Zenko
by Sakusha Saelbu
Summary: What if Naruto chose another profession instead of being a Shinobi, what you may ask read and find out. This is a bit different than the usual...
1. Welcome to Zenko!

Chapter One: Welcome to Zenko!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories.

Summary: What if Naruto chose another profession instead of being a Shinobi, what you may ask read and find out.

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_**In the hidden village of Konohagakure there are many different shops, some sell food, others specializes in clothing, and there were even those who cater towards the Shinobi population who needed different items from the normal civilian population such as various weapons and armor.**_

_**Konohagakure was known to have the widest variety of shops, however about many years ago on the far side of the village practically within the Hokage Mountain there was a solitary shop.**_

_**This shop was no ordinary shop, upon entering you would feel as if you stepped into an entirely different world and whatever it is you want would be fulfilled. However there was a special condition that needed to be met before even being able to enter the shop.**_

_**Even some of the wealthiest men in all the land could not enter, so it was not a matter of money as well as a few powerful Shinobi tried to go into the shop, but could not so it was not a subject of strength.**_

_**As a matter of fact the shop has become quite the legend especially since there was no record of such a place within the village's records.**_

_**It was quite a strange notion due to the few exclusive clients of the shop were questioned of what was inside and who owned it, they merely answered it was like heaven on earth with an angel granted their wish…**_

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"So it's graduation day and I'm finally a Shinobi of Konoha, time to show Sasuke what I can really do!" A rather peculiar pink hair-colored girl with sparkling emerald eyes dressed in a red dress, black spandex shorts, and blue colored open-toed Shinobi boots walked from her home towards the Academy to be assigned to a team.

It was on the way there she met up with her rival, a pretty platinum blonde with cauliflower blue eyes dressed in a purple dress underneath said dressed was bandaged that covered her most of her body, and the same blue colored open-toed Shinobi boots.

"Hey Sakura, you look happy this morning finally realized Sasuke is never going to be into girls with wide foreheads, eh Forehead Girl." The blonde smirked smugly as she crossed her arms in front of her after she ran her hand through her long blonde hair.

"Please, you are only trying to take away from the fact Ino-Pig that I am going to be teamed up with Sasuke and we are going to take the Shinobi World by storm. And he'll see you for the ugly pig that you are." Sakura glared while placing her hand on her hips, smiling a little at the not so subtle dig at her name.

Choosing to remain silent the rest of the way to the Academy however trying to constantly walk ahead of each other they practically ran through the village, but their normal routine changed as they slowed down a bit to see a store they had never seen before.

"Hey what's this place?" Sakura asked as they stopped in front of a small shop surrounded by large iron gates that had various swirl marks shaped out of the iron across the top, it was so elegantly done that it did not seem too outrageous.

The shop itself was made like a traditional Japanese home with shoji styled panels in the front decorated with red foxes playing in an open field filled with Sakura trees with of its blossoms falling from the trees, it rested upon a spacious ebony wooden porch, the paintings itself was strange because for a moment they seemed to actually move though Sakura and Ino believe it was a trick of the sunlight.

"It's beautiful… I think I heard of this place from by dad. He said this place grants wishes to whoever can enter the shop, but not everyone can get in." Ino said in a whispered tone. "Oh come on you really believe that he probably made it up, like some sort of fairytale or something." Sakura chuckled as she rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"No, but when he described the place it looks just like the place and the location too." Ino said as they were suddenly overcome by the urge to go inside.

They crossed over the threshold and it was as if they were transported to another world, upon viewing from the outside it looked like a simple shop however once inside they were brought into a large Japanese garden.

Upon one section it was styled much like Karesansui gardens or "dry landscape" gardens were influenced mainly by Zen Buddhism and can be found at Zen temples of meditation, there is no water present.

However, there is raked gravel or sand that simulates the feeling of water. The rocks or gravel were all artistically shaped, and mosses as well as small shrubs are used to further garnish the landscape. All in all, the rocks and moss are used to represent ponds, islands, boats, seas, rivers, and mountains in an abstract way.

Another section was more like Tsukiyama Gardens with large shrubs, the garden's structure made onlookers focus on the Hokage Mountain by doing this; it seems that the garden has the mountains as part of its grounds.

There was a sizeable pond with many different fish swam in, streams, small hills, smooth stones, various trees, flowers, and a small red bridge over the pond, and paths surrounding and intermingling the garden.

And the third section was Chaniwa Gardens are built for holding tea ceremonies. There is usually a tea house where the ceremonies occur, and the styles of both the hut and garden are based on the simple concepts of the sado or way of tea.

Usually, there are stepping stones leading to the tea house, stone lantern, and stone basins (tsukubai) where guests purify themselves before a ceremony. There were also various trees like Japanese Black Pine, Evergreens, Sakura Trees, and a Japanese Maple Trees though it was strange because not all of them were in bloom during this season.

"Alright I must be dreaming." Sakura said monotonously as she never seen something so beautiful in her life.

"You and me both, this looks like something out of a storybook my dad used to read me when I was little." Ino said in astonishment.

When looking at the shop it remained the same though it did look roomier than before, the two girls carefully made their way towards the shop and there were now front steps to climb.

It seems as if no one was inside the shop as there were no sounds of someone inside of in the area, the porch was bare as well not even a small pillow or chair for someone to sit on which was usually there so the owner can view their garden.

"It looks like no one is inside." Sakura murmured. "May I help you two young ladies?" A melodious, but soft male voice spoke up this startling the two girls.

"What the hell how and when did you get there?" Ino shouted as sitting there upon the porch on a large crimson velvet pillow that was so large it looked as if you could comfortably sleep in it with a bamboo tea set on a tray of hot tea judging by the steam coming from the cup in his hand as well as all sorts of snacks on said tray sat a young man who was clearly not there a moment ago.

He had silken long golden blond hair that fell majestically upon his shoulders and down his back, he was dressed in traditional white kimono with large bell-shaped sleeves and a rather large feminine crimson obi with looked to be a number of golden fox tails crisscrossing about the fabric. His deep sapphire eyes gleamed in mischief as he gestured them to take a seat on the two pillows that now appeared before him.

Not knowing what else to do they sat down and were each handed a cup of tea. "Mm… I love jade dew tea, it's my favorite." Ino said as she sighed in refreshment. "Huh that's strange mine tastes like my favorite, stalk tea." Sakura said after sipping her own.

"And mine is oolong, my favorite so what brings you here to my shop?" The golden haired boy asked in amusement, it never gets old how spellbound his customers look upon first entering his shop.

"You own this place?" Sakura gasped in wonderment at first she thought he may have been an assistant being as young, about the same age as them.

"Yes I own this place, my name is Naruto and this is Zenko the name of my humble shop of course." Naruto smiled as he moved his hands in graceful flourish waving to show off his not so humble shop by the size and magnificence of it earning deadpan looks from both girls.

"Well were on our way to the Academy and… oh my god we are so late!" Ino yelled as Sakura shrieked in worry as well as they were got up to break out in a run however Naruto merely sighed a made a simple dismissive wave of his hand and they abruptly sat back down gently in their seats.

"How did you do that and why did you stop us, we're going to be late!" Sakura yelled. "Time passes by slowly here, what may seem like hours here are mere minutes outside you are in no danger of being late I assure you now you were able to enter my shop so you must desire something." Naruto said calmly.

"Well there isn't anything I can think of." Sakura said though from the blush on her face that was a bit of a lie as Ino had one of her own on her face.

"Ah… it is love then how cute." Naruto chuckled softly was he got up, offering a hand to each girl that took it, leading them inside his shop. Inside it looked more like a museum as it was filled with paintings, wall scrolls, statues of all sizes, and other pieces of artwork and that was just the foyer.

Sliding open the Fusuma (another type of paper room divider) they were led to another hall filled with other shoji type doors each decorated with paintings depicted of nature such as oceans with bird flying over it, a forest with animals playing within, flowers waving gently in the wind.

Coming to a door with a design of a moon shining in the night sky reflecting upon a lake they walked inside. In the middle of the room there was a simple low table, they sat across from Naruto who with another wave of his hand contents appeared on the table.

Sakura and Ino can only watch in awe at what could describe as magic took place before them. Two black ceramic bowls filled with water appeared placed on the table ahead of them, there were three vials of red, blue, and white colored liquid merely floating in the air in front of Naruto.

Picking up the red liquid vial he poured half into Sakura's bowl and the other into Ino's bowl. "The essence of passion, however there is a downside it is also the essence of pain." Naruto said after pouring the red vial, once empty it vanished.

"The essence of happiness, but its twin in the negative can be the essence of depression." Naruto said as he poured the blue liquid into their bowls.

"And finally the essence of purity or innocence however because of its lack of true color it can be easily stained and tainted." Naruto said as he poured the white liquid into their bowls.

The colors merged and mingled into lilac color water and soon it formed into an actual Lilac flower floating in the now clear water. Ino's eyes immediately grew wide and then in understanding.

"Ah those are Lilacs they are known to be the symbol of love!" Ino gushed over the romantic sorcery of what took place.

Sakura's eyes glittered in happiness at what she now understood to be quite a magical and romantic act right before her eyes. Naruto then took it a step further when he took the Lilacs in each of his hands and seemingly crushed him, when he opened his hands two lilac shaped pendants now appeared in his hands.

"Wear these and you shall find your true love." Naruto said ambiguously as he smiled brightly, after they asked what would it cost as they knew he did not do this for free he merely smiled once more, but it looked far less innocent than before.

"Why simply a large portion of your hair would do." Naruto said as they gasped, grabbing their long glossy locks in fright.

"Come now if you want these pendants guarantee to find your true love some of your hair should be a small price to pay." Naruto said as he chuckled at how foolish these girls were acting.

"Alright I'll do it even though Sasuke like girls with long hair I know my good looks will get him in no time." Ino said.

"As if Ino-Pig I'll be the one to get him with the help of that pendant he did say it will lead me to my true love." Sakura retorted.

Before Ino could reply Naruto spoke once more, "Excellent you made the right decision." He grinned as he another wave of his hand their hair was cut just below their shoulders; their strands never reached the floor since they disappeared in midair.

Once their hair was cut, the pendants appeared pinned just where their heart would be on their chest. "Now remember the funny thing about love and you'll be fine." Naruto said as the two girls smiled and was about to thank him.

"Don't thank me now… when the time comes you shall give your thanks to me then." Naruto said in a vague tone as he led them out of the shop through the gardens and out to the iron gates.

Once they closed the magical look to the shop vanished before their eyes and it looked like it once did upon their first glance. "Did that really just happen?" Ino asked Sakura, who looked just as stupefied.

"I think so I mean look at us." Sakura said as she pointed to their shortened hair and their new fashion accessories. "Hey look he was right time hardly passed at all!" Ino shouted in shock as she raised her add-on sleeve to view her watch as it seemed only five minutes passed, but it felt like they were in the shop for much longer.

"Come on we'll be late!" Sakura yelled as they moved a bit faster to get to the Academy on time, all the while they were being watched by Naruto in large mirror acting much like a television or scrying ball.

"It's funny how fickle crushes can be; they have to remember you cannot choose who you fall in love with because I can foresee this much that Sasuke Uchiha is not their future mate." Naruto laughed softly at the thoughts of denial they will soon have at discovering their true loves.

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End of Chapter One…

A/N: Yes this is a rather different story, I may have been influenced by reading XXXHolic and some other manga, but I do not know what made me write this, but I'm glad I did I was having fun while writing it.

I hope you enjoy what I've written so far, until next time…


	2. Love's Warm Embrace

Chapter Two: Love's Warm Embrace

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories.

Summary: The "humble" shop called Zenko is a place that one Naruto Uzumaki owns. It is no ordinary shop for it is place where one's desires can be fulfilled however what one may think is their desire and what is their desire are two different things…

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It was another normal day at the Shinobi Academy except for one thing it was graduation day for many young Shinobi hopefuls. The daily ritual of Sakura and Ino racing into the doorway was something the graduating class was used to however today it was different.

For when they opened the door Sakura and Ino weren't forcing their way in nor were they arguing amongst themselves however that was not the main reason everyone looked at them in shock.

"You cut your hair!" Kiba shouted, thus voicing everyone's thoughts as he pointed at the two usually noisy girls.

"Yeah we thought it was time for a change." Ino answered before Sakura could, feeling it would be better if no one hears of their little adventure, giving a meaningful glance at Sakura, the pink haired girl nodded in agreement.

"Alright everyone take your seats! Hmm, you guys cut your hair?" Iruka said as he at first thought today would be normal although he would be saying goodbye to his students however seeing two of the vainest girls when it came to their looks in his opinion cut their hair he just now realized today would be very different.

Seeing how they weren't going to further comment, Iruka decided to move on as he announced the teams, "… Team Seven Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and you'll be assigned another teammate from the reserves list since we have an even amount of graduates." Iruka announced, earning groans of disappointment from most of the girls, a shout in happiness from Sakura and an indignant yell from Ino.

"Moving on, Team Eight will be Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuuga." Iruka announced as Kiba grinned not so discreetly at Hinata who ignored him choosing to stare at the desk instead, as for Shino well he merely remained silent.

"Team Nine is still in circulation so Team Ten will be Chouji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka." Iruka read the team off the list as Ino sighed in getting the lazy cloud watcher and the human garbage disposal.

After giving them one final lecture he told them their instructors would pick them up after lunch and he dismissed the class. "Don't think just because you lucked out on getting Sasuke on your team means anything Forehead Girl." Ino said to Sakura as she passed her walking down the steps.

"No need to be jealous Ino-Pig." Sakura smirked, but her smirk fell from her face when she noticed the object of her affections had already left before she could get the chance to invite him to lunch for, "team bonding".

Rushing out after him she bumped into Kiba who spilled his lunch on the ground. "Look what you did, Sakura!" Kiba shouted in anger as Akamaru barked as well his food was in his partner's bento box as well.

"Sorry, but…" Sakura tried to apologize and get on her way. "But nothing you own me lunch so why not give me yours?" Kiba said as he held his hand out to receive it.

"I don't have any, I'm on a diet." Sakura said in a slight sheepish tone. "What the hell for?" Kiba shouted in shock.

"Well I don't want to get fat." Sakura said in a factual tone that made it seem like the concept should have been simple to figure out.

"You do know you're a Shinobi now and proper eating is important you can't diet or you won't get enough energy to do your job right." Kiba said as he gained a shock look from Sakura, it was quite an intelligent thing to say.

"You seem to be an expert." Sakura commented, as she felt a bit silly for going on a crash diet when she was trying to be a Shinobi now that she thought about it bit more.

"Not really, but my older sister and my mom used to complain about the girls from her class that would do what you were doing saying it would get them killed and make Kunoichi look bad." Kiba said as he distinctly remembers their ranting had a few more curse words and they were screaming rather loudly.

"Anyway never mind that you're coming with me right now!" Kiba said as he grabbed her wrist and dragged down the hall and out of the Academy, the spilled lunch forgotten.

"Hey where are you taking me?" Sakura yelled and tried to break free, but Kiba was far stronger than her.

"To a restaurant I'm hungry and I know you're starving yourself, but won't admit it so we're getting lunch." Kiba answered without looking back at her as his grip slipped from her wrist to her hand, his hand clutching her own tightly.

"_Why is he doing this he never cared much about me before, but it's nice to be taken care of like this… his hand feels so warm."_ Sakura thought as she blushed slightly looking at the rather feral looking boy, if she had been paying any attention she would have noticed her pendant glowed slightly before fading back to normal. Her heart beating strongly in her chest as she felt warm all over, she felt quite happy for some reason she did not know.

**[All the while they were being watched by Naruto in his scrying mirror, it was beautifully crafted black mirror engraved with golden butterflies, and strangely enough they seemed to glow and fluttered around slightly as if they were alive.**

"**Well it seems she was lucky her mate to be was right in front of her the entire time hopefully this relationship will bloom quite beautifully." Naruto murmured to himself as he smiled holding the mirror in his hands.] **

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Lunch was rather peaceful as they talked a bit and when they ate there was an absence of awkwardness between them, soon as lunch was done Sakura and Kiba walked back to the Academy together with him no longer dragging her behind them.

"Thanks Kiba you really helped me out even after spilling your lunch, you even paid for it when I should have." Sakura said softly, glancing at Kiba out the corner of her eyes.

"Well my mom and sister would kill me if I made you pay for food when it was my idea to eat out in the first place, you can make me lunch one day to make up for though." Kiba grinned wolfishly as Akamaru barked in agreement and what could be teasing.

"Who asked you?" Kiba shouted at Akamaru. "So you can understand him?" Sakura asked in curiosity despite her rather fan girl complex, she was intelligent and willing to learn about anything.

"Yeah my clan specializes in communication with dogs and learning beast style techniques, we mostly end up being the village's trackers and join the Hunter-Nin Squad Divisions." Kiba replied.

"So you want to be a Hunter-Nin then?" Sakura questioned, as she never gave any thought to what type of Shinobi she wanted to be.

"Yep I'll be the best one too, Akamaru and I train every day to get better so what you want to be?" Kiba grinned as he looked over at Sakura, but seeing the sad and contemplative look on her face made his grin fall off his face.

"I don't know… I have no idea at all. What am I really doing here anyway?" Sakura murmured more to herself than to Kiba.

"Sakura you don't have to know right away, I was practically raised to be a Hunter-Nin, you come from a Civilian Family so no one was able to guide you in any sort of direction, which can be a good thing you know." Kiba said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked as she looked up from the ground she was staring at without her notice.

"When you do decide what type of Shinobi you want to be then you will know it was your decision alone and you will know deep inside you that you made the right choice." Kiba said with a smirk, as he saw the glow return in her eyes.

"Yeah thanks Kiba." Sakura smiled brilliantly, as they reached the entrance of the Academy. "Kiba thank you for everything!" She grinned as she kissed him on the cheek before she could stop herself, blushing quite a bit, she quickly ran inside leaving a shocked Kiba back at the entrance, frozen in place with red spreading onto his own cheeks.

"_What made me do that?"_ Sakura thought as her pendant glowed once more though much stronger than before, she ran back to the classroom and decided to wait for her instructor there instead of looking for Sasuke, her thoughts of Sasuke somehow weren't as constant today as they usually were.

**[**"**How sweet, ah… the wonders of love in its fragile birthing state. I can see that this will grow beautifully with a pack orientated thinker like Kiba being her mate, her fantasy of a strong man taking care of her will come true.**"** Naruto thought as he banished the image of Sakura staring out into space in the classroom, as if the mirror was made of water as the picture rippled.**

"**Now let us see how Ino is fairing in her quest for love.**"** Naruto smiled as the ripples stilled until an image of Ino sitting alone on a bench in the back of the Academy came into view. **

**A figure with shoulder-length white hair dressed in standard Chuunin uniform walked up to Ino, but there was something off about that man. "This does not bode well." Naruto murmured as he continued to watch to see what happens.]**

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"Why the long face Ino?" The white haired man asked in concern. "Mizuki-sensei, Sakura got to be with Sasuke, but it's not fair I wanted to be on his team! Instead I get lazy-ass and fat-ass!" Ino shouted, never noticing her lilac pendant seem to wilt a little.

All of a sudden Ino gasped softly and began to cough a bit, she felt as if her heart skipped a beat and she had a little trouble breathing.

"Is everything alright?" Mizuki asked as Ino nodded her head. "Yeah just little tickle in my throat." Ino said as the feeling passed momentarily.

"Well there may be a way to change that, you there is a secret test that allows the person who passes to form their own team however they want despite it already being announced, teams can be changed." Mizuki whispered. "Really, will you give me the test?" Ino asked her heart filled with hope.

"Well you are my favorite student so why not all you have to do is infiltrating the Hokage Tower and take a certain scroll, pick it to a location of my choosing and if you succeed you can form your team, remember this is a simulated covert mission so tell no one and ask for no help." Mizuki said as the blonde nodded her head, soon receiving the extra information for mission like what the scroll look like and where it was specifically located.

**[**"**Poor deluded girl is in for a world of hurt.**"** Naruto sighed shaking his head as he waved his hand above the mirror, banishing away the image of Ino. **

"**She needs to realize that love does not come forcefully yet you must be ready and willing to receive it. Merely saying you love someone does not make it true nor does it mean that this person is the one destined for you. I had a feeling that Ino would be having more difficult a time learning than Sakura." Naruto muttered to himself as he conjured a cup of tea into his hand.**

"**Hopefully this will not end in tragedy.**"** Naruto frowned as he took a sip of his tea, noticing it tasted a bit bitter.]**

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After lunch the former Academy students waited for their instructors who came to pick them up, some came on time, few ran a couple of minutes late, one by one nearly all teams left, well all but one being that of Team Seven.

"_I wonder what is up with Sakura, she hasn't bothered me all day not that I'm upset about it, but she seems to be thinking really hard about something." _Sasuke thought as he looked over at one of his more aggressive fan girls. Being all alone together he would have thought she would jump at the chance to sit next to him, but she was sitting in the back of the class looking thoughtfully out of the window.

As Sasuke was having his thoughts Sakura was having a few of her own, _"Why am I acting like this, usually I will be sitting next to Sasuke trying to get him to go on a date, but for some reason I don't want to. Having lunch with Kiba is screwing with my mind!" _Sakura screamed in her own head.

"_**Hey no need to yell I can hear just fine besides what's wrong with looking at other prospects. Kiba isn't so bad at least he actually took us out not that Sasuke ever did." Inner-Sakura commented.**_

"_We're loyal to Sasuke don't forget!" _Sakura yelled. _**"Why should we be he is always so cold to us, he glares at everyone he practically sees, and he's so pale… not like Kiba who can be friendly, he at least is willing to give us a chance even after we were never particularly nice to him, and he has a nice tanned toned body." Inner-Sakura said lecherously as she giggled perversely.**_

"_Down girl, don't make me get the hose! But I guess it's not fair to us to not look at other possibilities." _Sakura thought as her Inner-self nodded her head in agreement, neither of them realized her pendant was glowing the entire time and soon the color of the lilac grew brighter as if the flower was in the early stages of blooming.

Hours passed and their instructor still failed to show up even Iruka had left the class stating just to wait patiently.

However it was a different story for Team Ten as the newly formed team sat in front of their instructor in Chouji's favorite barbeque restaurant.

Their instructor who happened to be a rather tall and built man with dark hair, eyes and a bread who wore a slightly customized standard Jounin uniform in which he wore a sash around his waist, as well as smoking a cigarette.

"I'm Asuma Sarutobi and yeah I'm the Hokage's son now that's out of the way, let's go about introducing yourselves." The smoking man said in a lazy fashion a couple of steps above Shikamaru's lazy tone.

"My name is Chouji Akimichi, my favorite thing is food especially chips, I specialize in the Akimichi Clan Techniques and I dislike people who want me to stop eating or people who pick on others due to outward appearance. I hobbies are discovering new foods and hanging out with Shikamaru, my dream is to learn the secrets of the Cooking-Nin." Chouji said as everyone sighed at his food loving introduction.

"I'll go next I guess to get it out of the way. I'm Shikamaru Nara. Likes, Shogi as well as Cloud watching. Dislikes are girls who nag, people disturbing me from cloud watching, and chores. Hobbies cloud watching, playing Shogi. Dreams after retiring from being Shinobi I will settle down with a woman who is not so troublesome and have a girl and then a boy in that order or not, whatever." Shikamaru gave his intro in a rather lackadaisical tone.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka and my likes are my looks, Sasuke, and Flowers since my family owns a Flower Shop. My dislikes are Sakura that Forehead Girl, anyone who talks bad about my Sasuke, and having to get dirty and sweaty. My hobbies are shopping and taking care of flowers, as well as arranging flowers. My dream is to marry Sasuke and have lots of children!" Ino said enthusiastically as you could see the stars in her eyes.

"Well that was some… fine introductions so let me be the first to tell you that you're not a team just yet." Asuma grinned mischievously, but it was only Ino and Chouji who were shocked as Shikamaru merely mutter, troublesome under his breath.

"Your true test will begin tomorrow at eight in the morning so be prepared as if you were going on a mission." Asuma said as he left the money for the bill and then disappeared via Shunshin no Jutsu.

"How Troublesome I'll see you guys later." Shikamaru left after giving them a lazy wave out the door. "Hey Ino are you alright you seem to be thinking about something?" Chouji asked, startling Ino out her thoughts.

"Nothing so don't worry about it, you can finish the rest of the meal." Ino said as she looked at the clock and then sprinted out the door, leaving a worried Chouji behind.

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End of Chapter Two…

A/N: Thanks to all who read, reviewed, added this story on alert, favorites, and C2 lists it really meant a lot to me.

As you can tell I changed a few things, team assignments were done first before Mizuki's betrayal and Ino will be the one to steal the Sacred Scroll of Sealing. Naruto wasn't really in this chapter much, but it was for the sake of developing what will happen with Sakura and Ino.

It may seem a bit too fast for Sakura to be moving on, but she's not completely over Sasuke so don't worry, anyway I am merely introducing another possible love interest. As for the story's plot about Naruto and his shop, not telling… (Grins)

However, I will tell you that Naruto will be fulfilling more wishes though, well until next time…


	3. Obsession's Cold Grasp

Chapter Three: Obsession's Cold Grasp

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories.

Summary: Love can do or rather make people do things people would not normally do, but is it really love? Sometimes in its purest form you find strength in love to achieve the impossible, however in life there is always a downside. Sometimes love in its tainted form can cause a person to distort reality and do harm in the make of love…

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In the cover of night a familiar girl with short platinum blonde hair used every bit of stealth she learned from the Academy which in truth was not much since she was caught by a nameless Chuunin of average height with short brown hair walking up to her.

"What are you doing here this late, there is a curfew you know?" the Chuunin asked. "I'm sorry about this." Ino said, earning a confused look from the Chuunin.

However this was what she was waiting for as she made a single hand seal and possessed the Chuunin. "Got to love that Jutsu." the now possessed Chuunin said as _**he**_ grabbed Ino's body and hid it in some bushes.

_**He**_ made it inside the Tower without any trouble due to it being so late so security was a bit lax as well as the fact that no one bothered _**him**_ since Ino managed to look like _**he **_belonged there.

"_It's amazing that those lectures about infiltrating actually worked, look like you belong and most people don't bother you."_ Ino thought as she took the possessed body right into the Hokage's study, which was strangely not under guard, which should have been in her opinion.

"_Made it now which shelf was that again."_ Ino thought, as _**he**_ looked around and found the scroll right behind the Hokage's desk. _"This thing is huge."_ Ino thought as she prayed that her latest idea would work as she used the Transformation Technique to change the scroll into a trashcan filled with paper.

"Let's hope this works." _**He**_ said to himself and walked out of the office and down the hall, however it seemed as if the lucky streak had just ran out. "Where do you think you're going?" Another Chuunin with short slick black hair and sunshades appeared before Ino, asked.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked trying to remain calm. "You have to take trash out the back." the other Chuunin said.

"Oh right sorry this isn't usually my job that's what I get for doing a buddy a favor." Ino said as the Chuunin laughed probably experiencing doing a friend a favor and it not going so well.

Ino went out the back with the "trash" quickly moving back to where she left her body she released the Jutsu thus getting back into her body and taking the Sacred Scroll to where Mizuki said to meet.

Quickly making to an abandoned hut deep in the woods of Konoha, Ino waited for Mizuki to retrieve the scroll and tell her that she passed her test however she was in for a surprise.

"Ino what are you doing?" Chouji asked as he came out the woods, looking quite concern for his friend. "What are you doing here? You're going to ruin everything!" Ino shouted as she was shocked to see him here.

"I followed you, I saw you possess that guy and go into the Hokage Tower in his body, then you came out with that and then I followed you here. You were acting strange when you left the restaurant so I got worried." Chouji said softly.

"Well leave now! This is a test Mizuki-sensei set up for me so I can form my own team with just me and Sasuke maybe I can convince them to just let us two be teamed up together and we won't need a third teammate." Ino said her pendant wilted even more, soon the feeling returned she coughed into her hand, but she was too upset to worry.

"Ino just listen to you! You're already on a team and all decisions are final this test is a lie! That scroll is important I can tell, he lied to get you to steal it for him!" Chouji shouted.

"You're wrong, listen I love Sasuke and I want to be on a team with him so stop getting in my way! You and Shikamaru are always getting in my way just because our dads were so close doesn't mean I want the same thing! I will get what I want and you are not getting in my way again!" Ino shouted angrily, as Chouji's eyes widen in distress at what he just heard, neither of them noticing Ino's lilac flower pendant wilted further almost looking as if it was about to die.

Ino then began to double over from coughing she couldn't seem to get any air into her lungs. "Ino are you alright?" Chouji asked as was about to make his way over to her.

"I see you failed the test, you are supposed to be alone Ino." Mizuki appeared on a tree branch. "No! See what you've done now Chouji I failed because of you." Ino hoarsely screamed as she turned to face Chouji, she then grabbed her chest in pain as she felt as if she was having a heart attack.

Coughing once more she covered her mouth, trying to get herself under control. Looking down at her hand her eyes widen in shock to see blood on her hands, however while all this was going on she wasn't able to see Mizuki reach back to grab one of his giant Shuriken from his back.

"Ino look out!" Chouji shouted as he moved faster than he ever had before and knocked her out of the way and to the ground taking the hit in the back. Ino was not able to scream it seem as if everything was in slow motion to her as she watched Chouji get stabbed in the back, blood pouring from his wound and him coughing up blood meaning one of his lungs was nicked.

"C…Chouji, get up!" Ino coughed once more, tears running down her face as she ran over to her fallen friend, trying not to touch him in fear of making his wound worse.

"Well at least one of you is out of the way." Mizuki said as he jumped down from the tree and walked slowly up to them.

"You looked confused well let me explain to you. Your fat friend was right the test was all a lie I just wanted the scroll and you got it for me quite beautifully by now everyone will be searching for you since I alerted them that you stole it. And by then I will be long gone and you will be dead." Mizuki grinned evilly as he reached back to grab his second giant Shuriken only to find it missing.

"What the hell?" Mizuki cursed as he patted his bare back to see his weapon was gone, he looked all around him in haste, sweat gathered on his brow as he grew more unnerved by the lack of sound in the forest beside his own heart beat and Ino's whimpers.

"There's no one here." Mizuki muttered as he felt for any Chakra Signatures in the area and sensed no one he turned his attention back to Ino and the unconscious Chouji and made a step towards them.

"Looking for this?" A smooth, but youthful voice spoke above them, as a teary eyed Ino and an angry Mizuki looked up in one of the trees to see Naruto dressed just like he did when he gave Ino and Sakura there pendants except now he had a pure black nodachi on his back and a kodachi in his obi, a pair of white tabi sock and black leather zori, holding the giant Shuriken almost effortlessly on his index finger as if it weighted no more than a feather.

"Who the hell are you?!" Mizuki yelled as he never seen someone like this before, he could practically felt power discharging from this young boy. There was also the fact that he did not sense nor seen this strange boy a moment ago, if truth be told if he was not looking at the boy he would not have known he was actually there, he still did not sense Chakra, no there was some other form of power that pulsated from this boy.

"The dead have no need for answers." Naruto smiled serenely as Mizuki growled in anger, he reached for a kunai only for Naruto to suddenly appear beside him holding the kunai he held in his hand a mere second ago.

"But how?" Mizuki gasped, as he never heard the boy's footfalls or felt his weapon being taken away from him.

"Like I said the dead have no need for answers." Naruto repeated as Mizuki noticed blood falling into his eyes, he did not even feel the cut Naruto made, as he look down to see the kodachi drenched in his blood.

Wordlessly Mizuki fell to the ground, most likely dead before he even realized it, his body littered with slashes from Naruto's weapon. "Now that is out of the way," Naruto said as he turned to face Ino, his zori never making a sound as he moved towards her and Chouji.

"Don't move!" Ino shouted, blood dribbling over her lips as she spoke, she grabbed a kunai she had hidden on her to defend her friend, she knew he was still alive from his breathing though shallow it was.

"You're prepared to fight me even after seeing me kill someone stronger than yourself?" Naruto asked as he raised a slender blond brow.

"Yes, Chouji nearly died protecting me and I will do the same for him, we're teammates after all. Well that is if I'm not sent to prison after this." Ino said gathering all the courage she could she never noticed that it was easier to breathe than before, the pressure in her chest had lessen a great deal.

"Good then all is not lost." Naruto smiled as he flicked the excess blood off his weapon and sheathed it, Ino looking quite confused.

"You may have not noticed my dear, but those pendants I gave you and your friend Sakura reacts to your emotions, your pendant looked very much dead before now. It still have a ways to go before it grows healthy again and even more so before it blooms." Naruto said as he pointed a slender finger to the pendant.

Ino gasped at seeing the flower had lost a lot of color, its petals wilted the flower looked as if it was dehydrated and almost dead, "As I warned you before there is a flipside to every emotion and love has a powerful and dangerous negative aspect, it can corrupt and become tainted making you do things like this, stealing, lying, and nearly causing the death of one of your friends." Naruto said seriously.

Ino lowered her head in shame, "However you can be redeemed and grow from this mistake." Naruto said with a smile. "Please help Chouji, I'll do anything." Ino pleaded as she bowed her head once more.

"You should be careful with using such words. However in order to do as you ask, I shall need something of equal value." Naruto said with a slight frown on his face.

"Just name it I'll do what you ask… I want to save Chouji. He risked his life for me so I should be able to do the same." Ino said as she found her resolve.

"Very well, this whole turns of events was because you claim to love Sasuke Uchiha so my price is this, you shall stop chasing after him from this day forth that is what I want in return of assisting your friend." Naruto said as Ino gasped softly, but then nodded her head in consent.

"Alright then I shall help your friend." Naruto said as right before her very eyes Naruto's hand glowed a bright white as the shuriken soon began to glow then it became transparent and finally it vanished.

After that Naruto placed his glowing hand over Chouji's wound, all of the blood the boy spilt slowly seemed to move back into his wound and the wound sealed shut not even leaving a scar, his clothes were repaired as well.

"Now you are in need of help as well from what I can see." Naruto murmured as Ino looked quite confused, he merely nodded his head towards her hand that was still stained with her blood.

Ino being reminded of her terrible behavior only bowed her head in shame. "None of that Ino, you realized your mistakes and plan to make amends hold your head up high." Naruto said as he lifted her head by the chin with a single finger.

With a mysterious smile the same white glow formed around his hand and move onto Ino as she could breathe normally again and the blood on her hands vanished.

"And don't worry this little service was free of charge." Naruto said as he winked, looking over at the Scared Scroll he raised his hand and made a simple "come here" gesture with his finger causing the scroll to levitate and flew into his hands.

"Here you go, now you tell the nice ANBU and the Hokage coming this way about what happened as for me I will have to bid you a goodnight and remember love is a wonderful thing however it is easily tarnished." Naruto said he handed the scroll to her and soon he vanished before Ino's glazed over eyes just as a squad of ANBU appeared in the field.

"What happened?" The Hokage appeared as well, looking over to see Mizuki corpse, Chouji unconscious on the ground, and Ino just staring into space.

"An angel showed me the error of my ways and gave me a chance to redeem myself." Ino said as if she was in a trance as she too lost consciousness.

"Alright a few of you spread out and search the area for anything or anyone strange, if you find someone contained them I don't care who they are. Two of you will take them both to the hospital while I alert their families, and the rest of you gather all evidence from the area." Sarutobi commanded as they all saluted and then went off to do their assignments.

"Something happened here and I will find out." Sarutobi murmured to himself as he teleported out of the area to tell Inoichi and Chouza of what happened and if they could shed any light on this case.

**[While this was going on Naruto looked on from his viewing mirror with a mischievous smile on his face, "Maybe I should pay the old monkey a visit it has been a while and not knowing what happened will do more harm than good." Naruto said as he sighed to himself and faded from the room once more. ]**

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A few hours later Sarutobi walked into his office with more questions than answers, "That did not help much and the strange thing was when Inoichi mentioned that he knew that Ino's hair was not cut when she left the house this morning so when and why was it cut? And does it have anything to do with what happened?" He muttered to himself as he stood in front of the door to his office, it was then he felt a presence inside, but not necessarily chakra, more of a gut feeling as he discreetly pulled a kunai hidden from his sleeve behind his back.

It was then he entered his office only to find Naruto sitting in his chair drinking tea and eating a piece of cake. "What in the world? How did you get in here? And who are you?" Sarutobi asked as he still held the kunai hidden behind him.

He knew security was lax based on a newly graduated student managing to steal something of great value not too long ago, but this was getting ridiculous another young child just so happen to be sitting in his office as if he belonged there.

"There is no need for violence so put that kunai away and please take a seat." Naruto said as he chuckled at the hidden, but surprised look on the Hokage's face at this young boy noticing his movements.

Having no other choice he sat down in the chair in front of his desk, it has been a while since he was on this side of the desk.

"Have a cup." Naruto poured Sarutobi a cup of tea, deeming no ill will from the boy he took a sip, after watching the boy pour himself another cup and taking a drink, of course.

"Green tea, not many young ones drink this." Sarutobi said. "I know I'm having oolong, plain green tea is a bit too bitter sometimes." Naruto chuckled at the confused look on Sarutobi noticing they were drinking two different types of tea however there was only one tea pot.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me, but it has been five years." Naruto smiled as he nibbled on his cake as Sarutobi gasped in surprise as he now recognized the boy sitting before him.

"Naruto, where have you been you were reported dead five years ago?" Sarutobi asked as he noticed the whisker marks absent from his face. "Wondering about those, they faded about a year or two ago." Naruto said as he took a sip of tea.

"You failed to answer my question." Sarutobi said sternly in a rather grandfatherly way. "I own Zenko, I'm sure you've heard of it." Naruto replied as if he held all the answers.

"That place is merely a fairytale Naruto the village has no record of it just tales given by a few people who claimed to have entered the shop." Sarutobi said as he felt Naruto was telling the truth, but for once he was uncertain.

"Oh but it does exist, only a select few has ever been able to enter my shop now concerning what happened tonight I was the one who killed Mizuki and retrieved the scroll." Naruto said as he sat down his tea cup.

"Ino did indeed steal the scroll however Chouji stopped her from making a huge mistake and she learned a valuable lesson in looking beyond surface appearances." Naruto explained the slightly false memory in implanted in the two clan heirs.

"Why and how did you do that?" Sarutobi asked, he was happy to see his surrogate grandson, but it seem as if he change quite a bit, he was no longer the hyperactive child starved for attention, he acted like he was much older than he appeared and much wiser as well.

"I did that because I have to protect my clients until their desire comes true, the contract must be fulfilled, as to how well that is a secret I will keep. Just know that Mizuki set up a fake test to use Ino's weakness against her to steal the scroll for him possibly to give to an enemy for money and power, Chouji went to find out what had her act so strange when they met last, he used his body as a shield to defend Ino when Mizuki attacked her. Ino was about to meet the same fate, but I stepped in and killed the traitor then recovered the scroll, and now we are at the present." Naruto explained, leaving out a few parts.

"Very well it seems I will get no further answers from you just answer me this are you happy as you are now. It was not so long ago you wanted to be Hokage and to take my hat away from me." Sarutobi asked with a small, but sad smile.

"I am happy and sorry to disappoint you, but I have no desire to be Hokage looking back at it now wanting the position for such selfish reasons as acknowledgement was quite foolish and shallow.

However the lessons you taught me about caring for others' need above your own was not forgotten it is just that I have my own way of accomplishing that job now." Naruto said, hoping to put the old man at ease judging by the larger smile on Sarutobi's face it appears he did.

"I'm glad." Sarutobi said as they spent the rest of the night catching up, sharing tea and cake. Before Naruto bid his surrogate grandfather a goodnight he left a way for him to keep in touch with him.

"_**Whenever you need to contact me even if you feel it for a simple reason then insert a bit of chakra into the ring and I shall answer, if the need is great then I shall appear." **_Naruto's voice echoed in Sarutobi's mind as he looked down at the gold ring on his middle finger that had the symbol for fire on it.

"It seems as if I haven't failed just yet," Sarutobi murmured to himself as he looked at the portrait of both his successor and predecessor for Hokage.

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End of Chapter Three…

A/N: Well that pretty much does it for Ino and Sakura's wishes, it won't be the last we see of them so don't worry we'll see the progression and conclusion of their lesson/journey however it is time to move onto the next wish…

The person making the wish and what said wish is, well you'll just have to read to find out. I hope you enjoyed what you've read so far and thanks again to all those who are following along with my story.

Until next time!


	4. Onward to Wave Country!

Chapter Four: Onward To Wave Country!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories.

Summary: There is one lesson that must be learned by all, appearances can be deceiving and not everything in life is black and white due to life being painted in many different shades.

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"This could be very dangerous… if I just send in a bunch of high ranking Shinobi I could have an international incident on my hands. It's time to test this ring." Sarutobi said to himself as he looked down on the ring Naruto gave him not too long ago.

He had just received a message from Kakashi about the mission's complications and not quitting the mission like he should have or at least returned to the village to adjust for such tricky situations like assigning more experience Shinobi like a single team of Chuunin to the task, he allowed his team of Genin to decide, another foolish error.

He will definitely talk to that man when he gets back, but for now he would handle things as best as he could at the moment. Placing a bit of chakra into the ring as instructed a small projection of Naruto appeared above the ring's now glowing symbol.

"I see you are in need of my help or may perhaps be a social call… I have a lovely pot of jasmine tea brewing and some freshly made rice crackers." Naruto smiled as Sarutobi chuckled at Naruto's upbeat tone that much has not changed about the boy.

"Sorry, but this isn't social, I have a bit of trouble going on in Wave Country. A Genin team had involved themselves in a mission that is clearly over their heads, I would just send backup, but it would alert the neighboring countries and they may believe that we are trying to extend our borders when it isn't the case." Sarutobi explained.

"I see, but how can I help?" Naruto asked. "Well I can't just send a team without reason so I want you to act as if you are a client that needs to go into Wave, I'll have a team escort you so my sending more of my Shinobi won't look too suspicious." Sarutobi suggested.

"What makes the mission so dangerous that they need backup?" Naruto asked. "A crime lord under the guise of a shipping entrepreneur by the name of Gatou had the Country of Wave under his thumb for years, bleeding the country dry in an act of desperation a bridge builder by the name of Tazuna had started and nearly finished the construction of a bridge to the mainland to put an end to the monopoly Gatou had on the country. With it nearly being complete Tazuna wanted to hire extra protection, but it seems there was not enough money to spare so he lied to us saying it was a C-Rank, which was all he could afford. The mission is now an A-Rank mission because of the infamous Missing-Nin Zabuza Momochi being on the scene that is all the information I have thus far." Sarutobi explained.

"I'll be happy to help you old man, and as for using me as a ruse to allow another team to gain access to Wave without looking strange it sounds rather exciting, I'll be at your office in about an hour to give you time to choose your team and get ready." Naruto said before cutting off the link.

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"You have been chosen to assist Team Seven in a mission that has changed it is standard C-Rank requirements to an A-Rank, it seems as if the client lied about the dangers and they are in need of backup however I can't just send in more ninja for fear of an international incident so I choose you to escort a friend of mine to Wave in the guise of him being a client." Sarutobi explained as Team Eight now stood in front of him.

"And before you say anything Kurenai, I'm aware that you are a Reconnaissance group however you do have two Genin who can fight at close combat as well as cut off Chakra and another one can drain chakra, these skills will help tremendously." He added.

"I see very well Team Eight accepts this mission." Kurenai said stiffly, inwardly cursing Kakashi, she knew this was probably all his fault now she has to pick up the slack.

"So where is this client?" Kiba asked as office doors suddenly opened. "Ah Naruto you are just in time." Sarutobi smiled as Naruto was changed into a different outfit since the last time he saw him, he was dressed in a black outer kimono with white cranes seemingly flying across red rivers and red chrysanthemum flowers, the long and wide sleeves hid his hands within them, he wore an all red inner kimono that had red lotus blossoms along the edges, black hakama, and wore black tabi-boots for traveling. His hair tied in a traditional top-knot held by a long black thin ribbon.

"Lord Hokage is safe to send in someone so young I thought you would pick someone more like a retired Shinobi?" Kurenai asked.

"I'm more than prepared for what is to come, Miss Kurenai and I'm doing this as a favor to Old Man Sarutobi." Naruto smiled as Kurenai glared at the young man for his lack of respect while Kiba chuckled softly, Hinata blushed, and Shino remained stoic though he did raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I believe you should not regard the Hokage in such a manner." Kurenai reprimanded while Naruto looked undaunted at the rookie Jounin, which infuriated her more.

"And I believe Sarutobi and I are good friends as such I felt no need to address him by his title, besides he does not look as if he minds, and there is the fact that he is old." Naruto said cheekily as Kurenai glared even more and opened her mouth to say more, but Sarutobi cut her off.

"It is fine, Naruto and I have known each other for a long time and despite his youthful appearance he is quite strong now you should be on your way." Sarutobi said as he dismissed them, as the ninja stood at attention while Naruto lazily waved.

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"You need to work on your manners." Kurenai said as they just left the gates heading towards Wave Country.

"Excuse me, but are you my mother? Am I one of your students? If the answers to these questions are no then I have no need to listen to you." Naruto replied with a sly smile noticing the angry blush across Kurenai's face.

"Besides I know when to address Old Man Sarutobi as Lord Hokage, however being looked upon such reverence all the time can be taxing as well as make them forget that they are as human as the rest of us, so this is my way of showing my care and respect to him." Naruto explained as Kurenai paused for a moment, but refused to concede.

"I never seen Kurenai-sensei this flustered before." Kiba commented quietly to Shino and Hinata. "This Naruto seems to be able to get under her skin quite easily." Shino agreed.

"M… Maybe we s…should ask h…him to s…stop." Hinata suggested in her usual stutter. "It's none of our business besides he had a point he came as a request of the Hokage so he must be able to handle himself so Kurenai-sensei has no to grounds to try to boss him around just because he does something she doesn't like." Kiba replied.

"Kiba is right as long as it does not affect our performance on this mission it is not our concern." Shino said monotonously.

After Naruto took to ignoring Kurenai's fiery glares the trip went smoothly. "Naruto did you have any ninja training or are you a Shinobi?" Kiba asked. "I had a bit of training, but I'm no Shinobi, why?" Naruto replied.

"It's just that you haven't asked for a break yet and civilians don't have the stamina for long trips without stopping and we've been at it for four hours at a brisk pace." Shino spoke up for the first time since the start of the trip.

"If you must know I am but a shopkeeper." Naruto chuckled at their intrigued looks. "So what is your relationship to the Hokage?" Kurenai asked.

"You will have to ask him, ah… what do we have here?" Naruto said as they came upon a seemingly pair of tied up, unconscious Shinobi wearing dark clothes, breathing masks, and slashed Mist headbands.

"Stand back!" Kurenai commanded as Hinata, Kiba, and Shino did as instructed however Naruto stood his ground. "They are dead." Naruto said tonelessly as the Genin looked shocked even Shino as Kurenai's eyes merely widen in alarm.

"It was done crudely, not by a Shinobi even a poorly trained one would not butcher them in such a manner, see the slashes across their necks were jagged, even your lowest quality weapons would not create such cuts." Naruto explained as he knelt next to the bodies to exam them closer.

"How do you know this?" Kurenai asked softly. "As I said before I had training before, anyway we should hurry if this was done after they were apprehended by Team Seven then this complicates things even further." Naruto said.

"_Just who is this kid_?" Kurenai thought in confusion. "We need to get there soon and I might have a way to do it." Naruto said as he pulled something out of his pouch that was strapped to his hip, it was then they noticed that that looked like it could hold no more than a tee-shirt and that's if you fold it quite tightly.

He then pulled out an even smaller pouch and poured out black sand, he used the black sand to form some sort of pentagram with bizarre symbols within it, which was not the strangest part, it was most likely due to the fact that the pouch was far too small to hold that large amount of sand that was coming out.

"Do stand inside the pentagram." Naruto said as the Genin bravely entered the pentagram and stood around Naruto who was now in the center of it. "Do hurry Miss Kurenai." He said as Kurenai followed her Genin's example.

"Now just relax it helps if you close your eyes." Naruto said softly as his eyes began to glow a bright ethereal blue and the pentagram soon glowed as well. Doing as Naruto advised they closed their eyes and soon they felt a warm sensation.

"You can open your eyes now." Naruto said as they now stood in front of part of Team Seven who looked at them in shock.

"Kurenai, how did you get here and so fast?" Kakashi asked in shock at their sudden entrance as he had a kunai in hand ready to defend his students and clients somewhere in the house.

"Kakashi we were send to help, this is Naruto he was responsible for teleporting us all here, he is a personal friend of the Hokage assigned to assist us on this mission though technically speaking he is a client." Kurenai said as she regained her composure as well as gain a bit more respect for the boy if he held such abilities.

"How did you do that?" Sasuke asked curious at learning such a skill it looked far more advanced than the normal teleportation technique Shinobi use.

"What is going on?" Sakura asked as she came into the room to find a few familiar faces including one she never thought she would in such a situation. "Naruto is that you?" Sakura asked as she smiled at seeing the mysterious boy.

"You know him Sakura?" Kiba asked as she blushed a bit when Kiba spoke to her directly. "Yes, he's a friend of mine though I haven't seen him in months, how did you get here?" She asked Naruto.

"You remember the pendant I gave you, well because I made it I left a bit of my own essence in it so I can track it. It is much like your Shinobi's Reverse Summoning technique." Naruto explained.

"I must say it looks better than ever." Naruto said as he glanced at the Lilac Pendant she still wears, it was blooming rather beautifully.

"I see that's quite interesting." Kakashi commented as he looked at Naruto trying to figure out why he looked so familiar to him.

"Is everything alright?" A female voice spoke from behind the door. "Yes come in Tsunami." Sakura replied as the dark haired woman came in along with her son, Inari and father, Tazuna.

"So do you mind filling us in on the situation like where your third team member is?" Kurenai asked as she saw the reaction Team Seven gave and got her answer, Sakura was trying to hold back her tears while the male members just grew very still and quiet.

"Shun gained some injuries before, he got cut by the Demon Brothers in an earlier fight he did not tell us and died from the poison after we got to the house. Kakashi sealed his body in a scroll." Sasuke explained emotionlessly though you can tell the death got to him because of the slight trembling of his hands.

"We met up with Zabuza who we assumed dead due to a Hunter-Nin's intervention however it was all a ruse, Zabuza is alive with an accomplice who is at least Chuunin level at worst, Jounin at best to escape my notice." Kakashi stated.

"Not including whoever killed the Demon Brothers, before coming here Naruto discovered them, he found out they were killed by someone, it was not a Shinobi however it means Gatou has hired more help." Kurenai informed.

"Damn could this get any worse?" Kakashi cursed. "Not necessarily if Gatou hired more help to kill the Demon Brothers it means he has no intention of paying Zabuza." Naruto said breaking up the tension.

"Of course, they work for Zabuza so why would he kill them one of Gatou's hired thugs killed them so he will probably at some point kill Zabuza and his accomplice as well." Kakashi said as he sighed.

"Most likely during the final confrontation you all will have, everyone would be exhausted by then and easier to kill." Naruto said from the back of the room as he now was drinking a cup of the jasmine tea he made earlier.

"Where did that come from?" Tazuna asked the question on everyone's minds. "This is a dilemma however it is not without solution, just inform Zabuza of Gatou's treachery and he'll quit." Naruto suggested, never answering Tazuna about where the tea came from.

"Che, like he would believe us." Sasuke snorted. "He'll believe me." Naruto said confidently as they all looked at Naruto in shock and doubt.

"How is that?" Hinata asked not stuttering for once. "Does that imply you have met Zabuza before?" Shino questioned though it sound more like a statement.

"Yes I do know him, or rather know of him. We have never met face to face however he was a client of mine." Naruto replied without hesitation merely taking another sip of tea.

"You helped a Missing-Nin so that makes you are our enemy." Sasuke said as he appeared behind Naruto and held a kunai to his throat.

"Sasuke what are you doing!" Sakura shouted her eyes widen in alarm at seeing him hold a kunai to Naruto's throat despite the things he said, he never made any moves to help Zabuza on this mission besides he only just now arrived here in Wave Country.

"Put that down Sasuke, he is a personal friend of the Hokage!" Kakashi yelled, things were getting out of control and to threaten Naruto like that will have some repercussions especially since Naruto is so close to the Third Hokage, he will not go lightly in Sasuke's punishment.

"I say a few words about Zabuza being a client and you assume I am an enemy, how silly. I could have merely sold him some toothpaste in the past, what a fool you are Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto said undaunted by the sharp blade at his throat, as he clearly heard the growl from Sasuke from his words.

"I will not tell you again, release Naruto at once! That is an order Genin!" Kakashi shouted as his killer intent began to rise, he was already annoyed with the dark haired boy's attitude before, but now he had lost his patience.

"He never told us who he is or his abilities just because he is some sort of friend of the Hokage should he get special treatment?" Sasuke asked as he finally lowered his kunai still angry at how unafraid Naruto was during the whole incident.

"I am but a mere shopkeeper why should you be curious of my abilities?" Naruto asked in an innocent tone, though the foxy smile on his lips only shown mischief.

"This is stupid they are all going to die." Inari said tonelessly as everyone turned to face the little boy. "Inari that is quite enough." Tsunami said softly, but still in a reprimanding tone.

"No let the boy speak… tell me are you some sort of psychic, a prophet of some sort then how can you speak with such certainty that we all are going to die?" Naruto said as everyone now faced Naruto wondering where he was going with humoring the boy.

"No I'm none of those things! But Gatou has killed or hurt everyone that tried to oppose him before so just because you are Shinobi does not mean you will win!" Inari shouted in frustration, shocking Tsunami and Tazuna, this was one of first times in a long time that they have seen Inari show any real emotion.

"Ah so you have no real knowledge of our supposed deaths, listen well little boy everything is inevitable sure one day we will all meet our end, death is the one common fate we all as human beings share however that is where our similarities end. Just because there were people who died by Gatou's manipulations does not mean we will share the same end. So unless you are the son of the Shinigami then your opinion means nothing to any of us." Naruto said coolly as Inari's eyes filled with tears and he ran out the room.

"Naruto that was harsh." Kurenai said in an admonishing tone. "Life is harsh, just because that boy has lost someone close to him most likely his father or a father figure since is mother is still amongst the living does not give him a free pass to behave like he wants without caring if it affects others, can you not see his behavior effects his mother and grandfather as well." Naruto paused as everyone took in the cheerless expressions on Tsunami's and Tazuna's faces.

"Grief is a terrible thing, it can be a disease that festers causing people to act in the most terrible ways however in times grief it can create bonds with those who share in that sadness. If you do not snap that boy out of his depression, it will grow into something far more horrible." Naruto said seriously as he got up and left the room wordlessly.

"S… Should we l… let him g…go like t… that?" Hinata asked a bit worried for Naruto, she was most curious at that strange, but very handsome boy as she blushed slightly at her thoughts.

"He will be fine something tells me he can take care of himself." Kiba said with confidence as Sasuke snorted.

"Damn what is your problem with Naruto?" Kiba asked a bit annoyed with Sasuke, it was like the Academy all over again, if the Uchiha isn't the best at everything he throws a fit.

"Whatever jealousy you may be experiencing get over it, we have a mission to fulfill." Shino said monotonously however you can barely hear the annoyance in his tone at Sasuke.

"So what should we do?" Sakura asked trying to cut through the tension that has appeared in the room.

"We train of course you must be ready for the confrontation even if Naruto does convince Zabuza to quit Gatou may send some of his thugs to kill Tazuna instead." Kakashi said as Kurenai nodded her head in agreement.

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"Now to find Zabuza…" Naruto smiled softly to himself he now stood in the middle of another one of his tracker pentagrams and then just as before his eyes glowed as did the pentagram and he vanished from the clearing, all the while his audience of one looked on in shock as Inari watched Naruto performed his trick from behind a tree.

"Maybe he can kill Gatou." Inari murmured to himself as he was impressed with the boy who could teleport like that and despite him being a normal civilian he could still feel the power projecting from Naruto.

"_Alright I'll believe in someone one more time, don't fail me Naruto I have a feeling you are my only hope_." Inari thought with a sigh before going back into the house.

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End of Chapter Four…

A/N: A bit long, the longest I've written so far I think. I just couldn't find a good part to end it so I decided to stop here. It was hard writing this chapter, but I thought a lot about who I wanted to be the next client to be and how I want this sub-plot to go so this is what I came up with.

Now you probably know that since Naruto used his special location/teleportation technique then you know that either Zabuza or Haku has something that Naruto has made for them.

Hmm… which one or what could the object be… well I'm not telling just yet it's no fun that way. Oh and you may have noticed I did a bit of paraphrasing from XXXHolic, Yuuko is one of my favorite anime/manga characters.

I also incorporated one of my favorite magical items into the story though it might not have been all that obvious but, it is the dimensional pocket/bag… you know whenever a person takes out things that could in no way possibly fit from a seemingly small pocket or bag. For example Naruto pouring a lot of sand from that tiny pouch, there will be more examples within my story using that magic cliché and many other magic clichés.

Anyway that's all I'll say for now so until next time…


	5. Why Does the Lilac Bloom?

Chapter Five: Why Does the Lilac Bloom?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories as well as the quotes down below.

Summary: I usually make up my own quote or paraphrase from one I heard, but for this chapter I decided to write down two quotes that I believe sets the tone of this chapter:

"_**Every single life only becomes great when the individual sets upon a goal or goals which they really believe in, which they can really commit themselves to, which they can put their whole heart and soul into."**_

_**- Brian Tracy**_

"_**Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great."**_

_**- Mark Twain**_

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"Haku you mustn't worry about Gatou I will handle him after this mission is over you will only bring about trouble breaking that pig's arm like that." Zabuza said while lying on a bed under Haku's watchful eyes.

And it seems as though he was not as helpless as he seemed since he grasp a kunai in his hand under his sheets. "I know Zabuza, but I can't help but get angry at the thought of such a lowly creature touching you." Haku said in barely concealed anger.

"That loyalty is commendable however you should ease up on it a bit you sound a tad bit obsessive." Naruto said in an amused tone as he suddenly spoke out within the room sitting at the table in the far corner of the room as if he always been there, sipping his customary cup of tea.

In shock and anger at someone sneaking in here under her watch Haku launches several senbon at Naruto only for it to fall halfway in its journey as if all the life was drained from the throw.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Zabuza growled he knew Haku would be no match for this strange boy just knowing that little trick was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to his powers since he stopped Haku's attack with no effort at all.

He also knew in his condition he would be helpless as well, it made him very cagey at the moment. Not being deterred by the boy's mysterious powers and wanting to defend her master from this intruder she charged at Naruto deducing that his hand to hand combat skills and speed were weaker than that bizarre unknown technique he used.

She had learned people come up with such defensive abilities to cover for their weakness in other areas mostly the more physical aspects of being a Shinobi however she made one flaw in her deductions since she assumed Naruto to be an ordinary Shinobi the fact is he wasn't one at all.

As she tried her hand in Taijutsu hoping to land a hit on Naruto she soon noticed his speed was far superior to her own as he effortlessly dodged her blows, her punches were missing by only small degrees by mere inches, her kicks as well as if he knew where she would kick before she even did.

All the while he was still holding that insufferable tea cup, which made her angrier by the second. In a wild swing that was a bit unbecoming of someone of her skill and demeanor she managed to knock the tea cup out of Naruto's hand making it shatter onto the floor.

"_Well at least I was able to do that_." Haku thought in satisfaction, however in doing so she made another error as Naruto's warm, happy eyes grew cold and displeased.

"What's wrong was that your favorite tea cup you should have known better than to bring it into such a situation." Haku said in a taunting manner reminiscent of her master Zabuza.

Suddenly a pale blue glow engulfed Naruto's body and an invisible force knocked Haku off her feet and onto the floor a few feet away, crashing into the chair and breaking upon impact next the bed Zabuza was weakly trying to get up from.

"It is unwise to fight someone stronger than you head-on my dear I had thought you were taught better than that, now will you listen to what I have to say I had no intentions of fighting in the first place." Naruto said as he looked down at his broken tea cup and with a wave of his hand the broken pieces reformed and refilled while the spilled tea vanished from the floor.

It was then Zabuza noticed through scent the tea that was on the floor which was jasmine tea was different from the scent of tea Naruto was now sipping on, Haku was quite the tea drinker/maker and she often used him as a guinea pig in her experiments.

"Is that Lotus tea?" Haku asked as she was back on her feet and the anger was completely gone from her voice. "Why yes, care to try some?" Naruto smiled as the frost from his eyes and voice disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.

"I love some, I've been dying to make it myself but I hardly had any time lately." Haku said as Naruto handed her a cup of tea that appeared out of nowhere, all the while Zabuza looked on in disbelief they were fighting each other just a second ago and now they are talking like they were old friends after introducing themselves.

"It is really relaxing and gives off such a lovely scent." Naruto said as they sat on the floor conversing over tea, trading recipes and laughing amongst themselves for about ten minutes before Zabuza regained his composure to cough loudly to get their attention.

"What is it Zabuza, oh how rude of us would you like some as well?" Naruto asked as Zabuza was trembling in anger and frustration.

"No I don't want any damn tea I want to know how you got here and what do you want!" Zabuza shouted.

"Oh yes I completely forgot, I got sidetracked a bit. Haku is quite the tea enthusiast and it's nice to share conversation with someone around my age about tea, I guess our generation just can't appreciation a good cup of tea. Anyway I just came to inform you of Gatou hiring some outside help, he managed to kill the Demon Brothers after being beaten by Kakashi and left vulnerable on the side of the road." Naruto said in a cheerful tone despite telling them such horrible news.

"So Gatou means to betray us, if he killed my underlings then he'll kill both Haku and I eventually, damn and here I thought I scared him enough not to try anything stupid." Zabuza sighed and wordlessly accepted a cup of tea Naruto offered after delivering the bad news it looks as if he'll need it to relax.

"Now what do we do Zabuza?" Haku asked concern for her master. "I guess we'll call off the job you can tell your sensei that I'm not after the old man anymore, hell I'll even help just to get back at the bastard." Zabuza said with a grunt. "_Damn this is good tea_." He thought after taking a sip.

"Well technically I'm not a Shinobi however I will deliver the message nonetheless." Naruto smiled as he enjoyed the shocked looks on both Haku and Zabuza's faces.

"Then what are you?" Haku asked. "I am but a mere shopkeeper." Naruto simply answered as Zabuza spluttered for a bit, "A shopkeeper?" Zabuza said in disbelief.

"That reminds me, how did you get here?" Haku asked. "Well it's simple you had ordered some scrolls that had come into my possession some time ago concerning the Yuki Clan." Naruto paused a moment.

"It was rumored that my shop, Zenko had such scrolls so following that rumor you traded a very nice and rare metal that makes Zabuza's peculiar sword so special." Naruto replied.

"In any case anything I made or had once taken residency in my shop has a bit of my essence so to speak inside or has been absorbed into the object so I use a technique to locate the object much like the reverse summoning technique you Shinobi use." Naruto added.

"So you own that strange shop now… I wish to thank you without those scrolls I would have not been nearly as strong as I am now. How did you come by them anyway?" Haku asked pausing a bit as she thought better of asking the previous question she was going to ask burning in her mind.

"Now that my dear is a secret, in any case I have to return before the others get worried that I have been killed so I must be off. Though Haku… about the scrolls, trust me when I say the person who had the scrolls was not of your clan, believe me when I say you are the last one who has such abilities." Naruto said before simply leaving out the door never seeing the sad, but at peace look on the girl's face, but he did hear the just above a whisper, "thank you."

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"Where have you been?" Kurenai asked in a bit of worry, Naruto had just left without saying a word and had been gone for quite a while.

"Talking with Zabuza and Haku of course I thought it was obvious in any case, the talk took some time." Naruto replied in a carefree tone that upset Kurenai.

"It's dangerous to go off like that on your own, what if they killed you then we would have to explain to the Hokage we let his friend get killed!" Kurenai shouted.

"I apologize if I did worry anyone, but are you truly concern of my safety or just fear the Hokage's ire if something was to befall me, in any case do not worry I may not be a Shinobi but I am far from fragile." Naruto said as he was getting a bit irritated at Kurenai's motherly attitude when it came to those she considered children, it was obvious how she coddled Hinata it will be a detriment to not only the young girl's career, but her life as well if this did not stop.

"Look I know you kids think you're invincible at your age, but it's dangerous out there and since you always seem to mention that you are not a Shinobi how do I know you can actually take care of yourself." Kurenai said as their conversation had gained an audience.

"An excellent idea, Kurenai we should test young Naruto's abilities." Kakashi suddenly said as he was leaning on a pair of crutches.

"A test?" Sasuke asked, though he was excited to get a chance to see Naruto's skills for himself and if he was thinking of what Kakashi was thinking then he will get a firsthand demonstration through a fight with the blond.

"Yes you all will have a friendly spar." Kakashi elaborated. "You all will need to train in not only chakra control, but hand to hand combat since we'll most likely just be facing bandits or mercenaries." He added.

"Sure… why not it could be fun." Naruto said completely unworried at facing trained Genin besides he knew if he could handle Haku who was far superior to them in terms of skills these five Genin should be of no problem.

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So after finding a suitable clearing that had enough room for them to fight everyone prepared for a spar.

"Now the rules are simple no use of dangerous Ninjutsu I have no idea how far Naruto's Shinobi training went so Sasuke no Fire Techniques, Kiba no Beast Style Techniques, Hinata no advance Gentle Fist, and Shino no advance Insect Style Techniques, anything else is allowed." Kakashi instructed as they all agreed though Sasuke was a bit put off.

"It's alright let them use any techniques they have, if I am in facing the enemy I doubt they would hold back so why should your students." Naruto said as Kurenai, Sakura and Hinata looked alarmed by the statement, Kakashi, Kiba, and Shino agreed with the logic, and Sasuke looked eager for a chance at being able to fight at full strength.

"Alright we'll allow it just trying not to kill each other." Kakashi said as Kurenai was about to protest, but her own curiosity at seeing Naruto's fighting capabilities won out.

"First match will be Sakura vs. Naruto, then you'll fight Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and finally Sasuke if you are able to, should you get tired or injured we'll stop the spar at once." Kurenai said hoping one of the girls would be able to defeat Naruto quickly and without any real injuries, she knew the boys especially Sasuke would not hold back in the least in fact from what she could tell Sasuke might go out of his way to harm Naruto to prove his superiority.

As Sakura and Naruto walked to the middle of the clearing, while the others took to the surrounding trees to get a bird's eye view of the fight, Sakura looked a bit hesitant, she looked over to Naruto about eight feet away looking completely at ease.

"_How is he so confident, is it because he is fighting me specifically or would he be that way for all the fights_?" Sakura thought as she merely stood in place. "I won't hold back Naruto." She said stronger than she felt.

"Good I want your best, Sakura." Naruto said. "_This will not do at all, though she has improved somewhat concerning her inner-strength she still is somewhat uncertain_." Naruto thought as he stared unflinchingly into her emerald colored eyes.

"_Why is he looking at me like that as if he can see into my soul? It frightens me and yet it gives me strength as if he expects more from me that he knows I am more capable than even I believe_." Sakura thought as a drop a sweat ran from her brow.

"Well are they planning on fighting or just standing there?" Sasuke asked impatiently. "They are battling this is more of a mental battle Sasuke. More fights are won through the mind than through the body." Kurenai said as Sasuke scoffed a bit, but he knew the value of those words, it was something his brother would say.

"_Fight Sakura show me why your Lilac blooms so beautifully, show me that inner-strength_." Naruto thought was a reassuring smile at Sakura who soon smiled back, as they both then stood in different stances, Sakura more offensive stance using the more Advance Form Taijutsu she learned from the Academy while Naruto took a proactive stance which was a form of the Chen-style of Tai Chi Chuan though the Shinobi did not recognize the stance.

Sakura gathering her courage charged at Naruto with impressive speed for someone of her skill since she was the weakest physically and Taijutsu-wise out of all of the Genin however it did no good as Naruto merely sidestep out of the way and pushed in what seemed to be in a calm manner on her back as she pass causing her to lose her balance and fell.

Not deterred from the tumble she quickly got onto her feet, "_Good Sakura, fight me… never give up_." Naruto smiled beautifully at Sakura though Kurenai mistaken it for mocking as she glared at the boy.

Sakura understood his smile, threw back one of her own as she ran towards him again this time, she chose a feint to his right towards the front making it look like she aimed a kick for his chest and ducked down to perform tried to go for his knees with a low kick.

Naruto saw through the feint and performed a one-handed back handspring to get out of the way, but Sakura never gave up as she threw a few kunai and shuriken at Naruto hoping to hit while he is still in the air.

It was then Naruto revealed his kodachi to deflect the weapons, made them embed themselves in the trees around them though it was unsure that Naruto purposely aimed one near Sasuke's head that slice off a few strands of hair.

"So you're finally taking me serious." Sakura said as she spoke for the first time since the start of the fight.

"Of course your aim is very good it would be foolish to ignore such skill." Naruto said as Sakura pulled out a pair of kunai she held in her hands in a defensive stance as one was raised up and across her chest while one stayed at her side, but ready to be used.

This time Naruto was on the offensive as he dashed at the girl, with surprising speed, he did not want to embarrass the girl however he knew that he if held back against her it would do more harm than good so within mere seconds he vanished and once he reappeared Sakura fell unconscious where she stood. "Sleep." Naruto whispered so softly not even Kiba nor Akamaru heard him.

"I guess the winner is Naruto by knockout." Kakashi said as Kurenai jumped down to look over the girl however Naruto was already picking the girl up into his arms bridal style after sheathing his kodachi in the hidden sheath on his body.

Upon closer inspection Kurenai could not see any type of bruise or injury on Sakura she was puzzled by how he caused her to lose consciousness. "She did quite well." Naruto said.

"Are you mocking her, she was clearly outclassed by you." Kurenai said coldly, angry on the girl's behalf.

"She may have been less skilled than I am, but at least she tried and conquered her fear of facing opponents that may be stronger than her. She felt weak and useless especially after Kakashi stated not to use the advanced skills her fellow Genin had while she had none of her own. It was as if he threw in her face how weak in comparison she was to them and how he believed that no skills she had in possession would cause me any harm so he never stated that she should restrict herself in fear of injuring me." Naruto explained.

"It's only because she comes from a civilian family, I don't think she's useless." Kakashi said as if to defend himself.

"True, but as her instructor you should have given her some advanced skills for battles such as the one we find ourselves in now, it goes without saying you favor the Uchiha. To put in bluntly had you trained all of them equally you would not be down a team member." Naruto said coldly as Kakashi growled quietly at the jab, though true it might have been.

"Naruto!" Kurenai shouted in reprimand. "It is true, that is why I shall be involving myself in Sakura's development until the end of the mission. She has potential you are squandering." Naruto said as he effortlessly placed her on a tree that had its branches shaped peculiarly like an abstract wooden chair so there was no risk of her falling, strange how it was not like that a moment ago.

"Now shall we continue this spar?" Naruto asked as he looked at Hinata from his position on the ground who looked quite shaken from his display of power.

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End of Chapter Five…

A/N: I want to thank all the readers who had been kind enough to review, put this on their favorite or alert lists, it means a lot that you enjoy my story. I have been getting ideas from some of you I will try to incorporate those that fit into the storyline I have planned out.

Moving on, I decided to take a different route this chapter to showcase Naruto does have some physical training as requested by a reviewer sorry if I cannot remember the name at the moment or if more than one of your asked I have a really bad memory sometimes. Anyway, it will be discovered later how Naruto came to gain his skills and I mean all of them, it was also due to a suggestion that I don't just have Naruto use magic all the time. In any case I fear it may seem like Naruto is all powerful, he is not.

Though his weaknesses haven't been mention there are a few, for one thing he is capable of dying. It just seems as if he his super powered due to him beating Haku effortlessly and how he will beat the Genin with ease as well, but they are just Genin as for Haku though she is powerful, the bulk of her power lies in her Bloodline Technique which she did not use in the fight with Naruto.

Anyway I stopped here since the chapter seemed to be getting long and I needed time to decide what to do next. I hope you enjoyed this slightly lacking in magic chapter, don't worry more of Naruto's powers will be revealed sooner than you think, bye for now…


	6. Discovering Inner Strength

Chapter Six: Discovering Inner Strength

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories…

Summary: "Nothing can dim the light which shines from within." ― Maya Angelou

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"Now shall we continue this spar?" Naruto said as he looked at Hinata from his position on the ground who looked quite shaken from his display of power.

"_How can I possibly compete with such skill, he seems so fast… so strong he is everything I am not… I'll be humiliated_." Hinata thought as her hands trembled in anxiety.

"Hinata you do not have to face him if you don't want to." Kurenai said trying to comfort her as Kurenai's voice suddenly appeared next to Hinata, shocking her as she nearly jumped out of her own skin and out of the tree.

"_This will not do at all… she is coddling her, she will never get any stronger if she keeps smothering her with such affection, you can care for your students, but to shelter them from all danger will hinder them in the end and once they have to face a challenge alone they will not know what to do and as a Shinobi she will die_." Naruto thought as his eyes narrowed in slight disgust wondering how this woman became a Jounin Instructor in the first place.

"Hinata come down and fight!" Naruto shouted as everyone turned their attention to the blond who looked displeased.

"What you wish to humiliate her like you did Sakura?!" Kurenai shouted fighting the urge to ensnare him in a nasty Genjutsu.

"I do not believe I humiliate Sakura in any way, she fought me despite feeling outmatched, she faced her fears do not prevent Hinata from doing the same." Naruto said coldly.

"I'm not… I'm only protecting her." Kurenai said to defend her actions, as Naruto merely smirked at her, infuriating the dark haired woman further.

"And that is the problem as a teacher your job is not just to protect, but to encourage your students to strive to grow stronger, how can she possibly get stronger if you deter her from facing anything that might injure her, but at the same time grow stronger from. It is better she face me than an enemy that would kill her." Naruto explained simply as he folded his arms across his chest.

The debate drew the group's attention as they could not help but agreed with Naruto, though chose to remain silent even Sakura who awoke just as the argument took place. "Hinata is a gentle person she does not wish to harm others." Kurenai said as her hands clenched tightly into fists, she was barely restraining her frustration.

"Then why is she a Shinobi?" Naruto retorted as Kurenai and Hinata gasped, while Naruto smirked victoriously at their surprise by his statement.

"Tell me Hinata why are you a Shinobi? If you do not wish to harm others then why pick a profession that will guarantee you to have to harm or even kill another person somewhere down the line?" Naruto asked seriously.

"You don't have to answer." Kurenai said before Hinata could even form the words. "Shut up! I was talking to Hinata! Hinata answer me, tell why!" Naruto shouted angrily, it was self-righteous people like Kurenai that he could not stand the most.

"I… I want t…to get s…stronger to show everyone I am not an f…failure." Hinata said softly. "Sorry I can't hear you." Naruto said even though he could very well hear her words.

"I want to get stronger to show everyone I am not a failure." Hinata said though she did not stutter this time, it was still spoken very softly. "What?" Naruto said as he leaned and cupped his ear as if to listen closer.

"I said I want to get stronger to show everyone I am not a failure! To prove to my clan that I am worthy to be the heiress not just in name! I want to achieve my dream in uniting the Hyuuga Clan, to abolish the Curse Seal!" Hinata yelled, shocking nearly everyone except Naruto who smiled at her.

"Then come down and face me!" Naruto shouted back as Hinata smiled jumping down from the trees, landing softly on the forest floor. Kurenai made a move to go down as well, but Kakashi stopped her.

She looked back in anger and alarm, but Kakashi just shook his head negatively. "If you go down there now you would undo all of Naruto's work, don't you see by making her shout out and stand behind her own convictions he helped give her the confidence she needed to get stronger, to become the Shinobi she wants to be." Kakashi whispered.

"She was always a bit timid, but it got worse because of that "incident" seeing death at such a young age especially caused by the skills she was being trained in. It made her question the very principles she was taught since birth. The Hyuuga Clan's specialty in Juukenpo (Gentle Fist Style) that can kill a person in one strike something so deadly frightens someone who is so gentle like Hinata, so she holds back in fear of accidentally killing her opponent. That coupled with the fact she feels guilty in being born in the main branch and having her own family be made into slaves, she knows that if something is not done she will have to fight her own sister for right of Clan Head, the loser will be branded and transferred into the Branch House." Kakashi explained, louder for all to hear.

"That's awful." Sakura said quietly looking down at Hinata who took on a basic stance for Juuken while Naruto taking a different stance from the one from Sakura's fight, he took on the Wu (Hao) Style of Tai Chi Chuan, it was a distinctive style that focuses on small, subtle movements, balance, sensitivity, and internal Chi development, a perfect style to go against Juuken.

"This is different from the form he took when fighting Sakura, it almost looks like Juuken." Shino stated from his own observations. "He looks like he just copied her stance." Sasuke said with a snort.

"You're one to talk your whole clan revolves around copying others." Kiba muttered earning a glare from Sasuke, as Kakashi quickly hushed them.

"It looks like Hinata is going to make the first move." Kakashi said as they watched her charge at Naruto with speed they had no idea she possessed, it was still slower than Sasuke or Kiba, but remarkable nonetheless.

"Hakke Kūshō! (Eight Trigrams Empty Palm)" Hinata shouted as she performed the hand seals to release her Byakugan during her charge and once she was close enough to Naruto she unleashed a high speed palm thrust creating a vacuum shell of compressed air however Naruto used his superior speed to dodge.

He quickly retaliated with a palm thrust of his own of the center of her back it was to everyone's shock that in spite of the subtle and suspiciously moderate attack it launched Hinata several feet away onto the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" Kiba shouted as he watched Hinata crash and slide onto the ground until coming to a stop. "That bastard." Kurenai growled as she trembled with fury.

"Calm down, look Hinata is getting up." Kakashi said as Hinata though shakily got to her feet and turned around to face Naruto who nodded his head in respect for her determination and tolerance for pain, he did not exactly go easy on his strike.

"What was that, it looked as if he was using Juuken for a second?" Sasuke asked very interested in such a style that let him use moves like Juuken without the Byakugan.

"He used some kind of power, but it was not Chakra whatever it was it displayed enough force to launch Hinata across the field like that with only a small palm strike, that type of energy is powerful and something to fear." Kakashi said as he lifts up his headband to observe the fight more carefully and uncover the mystery that is Naruto.

Hinata finally getting some air back into her lungs, she charged once more however this time she had Chakra covering her hands as she fired an assault of punches and palm strikes each of which Naruto dodged by mere margins.

It was after managing to land a hit to his shoulder that Naruto leaped back rubbing his stinging shoulder. "You surprised me with that one Hinata." Naruto smiled, though his Chakra point was not close, but it hurt nevertheless.

"Way to go Hinata!" Kiba cheered as Shino smiled behind his coat, though it was only a small one. "I believe it is time to kick this up a notch." Naruto said as his eyes began to glow a brilliant blue and the energy Kakashi saw with his Sharingan became visible to the naked eye.

"That's not Chakra, but what is it?" Sasuke murmured as a light blue energy surrounded Naruto's body. Suddenly Naruto vanished from sight and appeared in front of Hinata, aiming a simple tap to her solar plexus though through the tap he expelled that strange energy into thus knocking nearly all the air out of her out of her lungs.

Hinata gasped struggling to breathe as her muscles locked up from lack of oxygen and she soon fell unconscious as Naruto caught as she fell forward towards the ground.

"Hinata!" Kurenai shouted as she jumped down and raced to Naruto looking as if she was going to kill him. "Bind!" Naruto commanded as his eyes glowed, an icy blue and Kurenai was frozen in place unable to move, and everyone was truly shocked by the display of power.

"I do not enjoy using my powers in such a manner, Kurenai. If you cannot control yourself you are unfit to be a teacher let alone a Jounin, as a Shinobi I expect you to have better restraint on your emotions if you come near me in a threatening manner again I will put you down, do not think this is over because when we return I will talk to Old Man Sarutobi about this. _I will not be put into such a position again_." Naruto said coldly as he thought the last part to himself, his past is his own and not to be shared.

Having nothing more to say he released Kurenai from her invisible bonds as she fell in a boneless manner to the ground. "I have no will to fight anymore, I have seen enough. Sakura let's go we have work to do, you and Hinata both." Naruto said as Sakura nodded her head and followed Naruto who carried the unconscious heiress in his arms.

"Hold it! I want to fight you." Sasuke said as the others jumped down from their perches, he was angry at being denied to fight the blond boy who carried himself as if he was superior to him.

"_After witnessing his power to stop a Jounin in his tracks he wishes to fight him, what a fool_." Shino thought as his eyes narrowed behind his glasses as Kiba was thinking along the same lines.

"I have no time to play with you little boy." Naruto said as he coolly looked over his shoulder at Sasuke before turning around, leading Sakura deeper into the forest, Sasuke made a move to follow, but was restrained by Kakashi while Shino and Kiba helped their team leader to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked Kurenai who merely nodded her head. "That was stupid of you to get upset enough to charge at Naruto, who is technically a client and very much a friend of the Hokage. I know you care very deeply for Hinata and hate to see her hurt, but she is a Shinobi and will end up being hurt quite a lot in this profession, in a way Naruto was right about what he said earlier, it might be wise to let him impart some knowledge to both Sakura and Hinata. I have a feeling they will grow strong under his watch." Kakashi said as Kurenai remained silent.

Feeling as if she wanted to be left alone the men left her in the clearing to her thoughts. "Hinata have I hinder your growth? I felt as if you are a daughter to me that I have to protect you especially after your harsh treatment from the Hyuuga Clan including your own Father. I remember that day he practically disown you in all but name, I guess I should have encourage you to stand on your own two feet than shield you from everything, maybe I am not cut out to be a teacher I have failed another student." Kurenai murmured to herself as she stared at the ground vacantly.

She never knew she was being watched by a blue-eyed white fox, its most distinguishing features being the three tails moving about behind it.

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End of Chapter Six

A/N: Alright, that is the end of this chapter, I did not plan on having him fight all of them from the start so sorry if people were waiting for Naruto to fight Sasuke, I know that was what you wanted to see, but don't worry Sasuke will be dealt with.

I have shown a bit of Naruto's magic as he was able to bind Kurenai in place with just a command. You may have noticed I am hinting at Naruto's past as the story progresses, so it isn't your imagination. As for what he will be teaching Sakura and Hinata, no it will not be magic, Naruto did have Shinobi training so he will impart that knowledge to them as to who taught him, well not telling yet…

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter bye for now!


	7. Imparting Wisdom

Chapter Seven: Imparting Wisdom

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories…

Summary: "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich."

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

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"Hinata have I hinder your growth? I felt as if you are a daughter to me that I have to protect you especially after your harsh treatment from the Hyuuga Clan including your own Father. I remember that day he practically disown you in all but name, I guess I should have encouraged you to stand on your own two feet than shield you from everything, maybe I am not cut off to be a teacher I have failed another student." Kurenai murmured to herself as she stared at the ground vacantly.

She never knew she was being watched by a blue-eyed white fox, its most distinguishing features being the three tails moving about behind it.

After the fox felt it had seen enough it left the clearing traveling silently through the bushes until it reached another clearing quite like the one the sparring succession took place in earlier. As soon as it spotted Naruto talking to both Sakura and the now conscious Hinata it squeaked in happiness and ran up Naruto's back until it reached his shoulders.

"Oh how cute." Sakura smiled at the fox, she knew it must have belonged to Naruto wild animals don't act that comfortably with people.

"Hello Shimo do you have news for me?" Naruto asked the snowy white fox who nodded its head, as he softly stroked the fox's ears.

"Yes I believe the woman Kurenai you had me watch after is quite upset however it is due to her belief at being a failure at teaching others." The fox spoke in a deep, yet feminine tone as a result both Hinata and Sakura looked quite shocked at this development.

"You can talk?" Hinata asked as she seemed to have gotten over her stuttering problem for now though it could have been just the shock that caused her to stop stuttering.

"Why of course young lady you did not think that Master Naruto would not just ask me a question like that if I was not be able to answer him." Shimo chuckled as her tails waved lazily behind her as the two girls took noticed of them.

"Yes Shimo has three tails, she is a spirit fox much like the demonic entities, the Bijuu however as you can sense she does not have the corrupted or malicious feel to her energy." Naruto explained.

"I see, but what was that about my sensei?" Hinata asked as she grew concern about her, even if she now realized that Kurenai was not truly helping her with her problems she still cared for the woman, she was one of the only positive constants of her life.

"It is something stemmed from her past most likely a previous student and their relationship did not end on a good note. We should not pry it is none of our business and we should all respect it, for now let us concentrate on what I have to teach you." Naruto said as the two girls nodded their heads.

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Meanwhile in another clearing not too far away the men stood and talked among themselves, wondering what their next move should be.

"So this is all you've been doing it makes me wonder how you were planning on facing us if we were going to continue our contract with Gatou." Zabuza said as he and Haku appeared in a swirl of leaves though Zabuza was leaning on Haku.

"It seems Naruto was right, you don't plan on going through with killing Tazuna." Kakashi said as the two Missing-Nin nodded their heads.

"Yes, by the way where is Naruto?" Haku asked. "Why bother with him, he's not even a Shinobi?" Sasuke asked as both Zabuza and Haku scowled at the last loyal Uchiha.

"Never mind the bastard, Naruto went out to train two of our teammates." Kiba sighed as he wondered if Sasuke was truly a genius, he didn't seem to pick up on the fact he was pissing off two obviously stronger Shinobi who were not too long ago going to kill them and most likely very well could even as weaken as Zabuza appeared to be.

"Anyway we thought it would be best to act like nothing has changed so we can surprise Gatou and his mercenaries at the bridge. He has us tailed, but we left a couple of clones to fool him, none of his men have any Shinobi training so they won't be able to tell the difference." Haku informed.

"That is a good plan we wouldn't want Gatou to hire a bunch of new Shinobi we don't know about. On the other hand we don't know if he already hasn't done that." Kakashi stated.

"As far as we know he hasn't, Haku has been following the little bastard making sure he doesn't hire anyone else. He wants to cash in on our bounties himself, like the asshole needs the money." Zabuza snorted.

"Well that's good news, we better inform Kurenai and Naruto of this, but I can't sense Naruto nor Sakura and Hinata." Kakashi said.

"That is strange I can't sense them either, no other Chakra signatures other than another Jounin level Chakra signature." Zabuza said as he looked at Haku as she shook her head indicating she couldn't sense anything either.

"That kid just gets even stranger and more impressive it takes real skill to hide not only his Chakra signature, but two others as well." Zabuza chuckled as Sasuke grunted in irritation.

"I just don't understand why he would just take those two to train he could be training all of us." Sasuke said as Kiba and Shino looked more than annoyed with the Uchiha's complaining Kakashi looked embarrassed while Zabuza and Haku merely rolled their eyes.

"_You mean train __**you**_." Everyone thought in unison. "Naruto thinks they need it more and I agree, both Sakura and Hinata could be a lot stronger than they are now we all could, but they need it the most." Kiba replied with a growl, exasperated with Sasuke's attitude, if he did not shut up about Naruto and his powers soon they would be down another Shinobi.

"Besides he hardly trusts us especially you, which I do not blame him. You have purposely antagonized him since his arrival." Shino added monotonously as he tried to remain calm, he never had someone rattle his nerves this much, even Kiba's boisterous attitude did not affect him this badly.

"They both have a point, in any case those are his techniques to teach to whomever he chooses to impart them to and technically being a civilian no one can order him to do so otherwise." Kakashi supplied his thoughts on the matter. "_What a spoiled brat_…" Zabuza and Haku thought.

"Well you had your Sharingan out, didn't you copy the moves?" Sasuke asked. "He did not use Chakra during his battle. As a result I could not copy them I could only get a bit of insight to them, but I am not going to tell you what I learned. They are not mine to reveal nor do I have the ability to truly teach them to you. Even if with Naruto's permission you are clearly not ready or able to learn them." Kakashi retorted irritably.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked shocked, Kakashi had always encouraged him up until now, he just knew it was Naruto's influence that made the change he had no idea how right he was in that thought.

"You are far too immature to learn, you have no discipline and you lack the need to learn. Sure you may want to learn something to quell your thirst for power, but the need to learn is altogether different. You have to truly believe that the skills you are learning are not just tools in your victory over opponents, but you must value the philosophy behind the skills." Shimo said as she appeared before the group startling the group.

"What the hell?" Sasuke shouted in alarm at seeing a talking fox, Kiba was a bit taken back by this but his mother's canine partner had the ability to talk, and Shino was a bit shock, but not due to the fox's ability to use human speech, but who's fox it might belong to.

Kakashi was not shock at all, he had a feeling whose fox it was however seeing this fox made Kakashi wondered how in the world did Naruto received a fox summoning contract, they simply do not exist unless he had the power to create one, which was a feat in itself.

"You're Naruto's fox, aren't you?" Kakashi asked as Shimo smiled as best a fox could. "Why yes my name is Shimo and I just came to check up on you all at Master Naruto's request and I will inform him of your plans so do to not expect the ladies or Naruto to return until the day of the confrontation." Shimo said as she stood before Kakashi.

"Well, Kurenai will not be happy about this." Kakashi said. "Don't worry another of Master Naruto's companions will tell her of this." Shimo said as Sasuke blocked her path as she was on her way back to Naruto.

"What do you mean by what you said?" Sasuke asked angrily that some fox had the nerve to lecture him as he stepped closer to it hoping it would be afraid of his superior size, to his annoyance it gave a similar undaunted look Naruto gave him before.

"Because what you are doing now by trying to be intimidating and failing… you continued to prove that you are too immature to learn anything Master Naruto has to teach. Throwing temper tantrums, shouting at your peers and questioning your superiors are not the actions of a Shinobi, but a spoiled little boy pretending to be a man." Shimo retorted as her chilly blue eyes glowed in power.

"Damn you!" Sasuke sneered as he pulled out a kunai only for it to become frozen solid in his hands as he dropped it in surprise.

"As my namesake implies I have powers related to that of frost or rather ice and snow, do not cross the line Uchiha or you will not be coming back." Shimo said as she vanished in a swirl of snowflakes, which shocked Haku the fox had powers very similar to her own.

"I have a feeling Naruto will be pissed about this." Kiba whispered to Shino who nodded his head in agreement pulling a weapon out on his fox will not sit well with the strange shopkeeper.

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"Are you going to just sit there and continue to look pathetic?" A cold raspy male voice came from the shadows of the trees. "Who's there?" Kurenai said as she withdrew a kunai to arm herself.

"Do not insult me with such a meager threat." The voice spoke again as a pitch black fox with five tails phased out of her own shadow.

"Before you ask my name is Shakou and just as my name describes, being that of Shade I have abilities of darkness and shadows I am a companion of Master Naruto anyway if you weren't sitting here sulking you would be aware of the new developments taking place." Shakou sighed.

"It would appear that a plan to trick Gatou has been made. Zabuza and partner Haku will pretend to still be under contract to kill Tazuna so when Gatou arrives then you all will take care of the mercenaries and Gatou thus freeing this country from his tyranny. I have also been sent to inform you that the girls' training will take a while that to not expect them until the day of the confrontation do not argue nothing will happen to change it so it will be a waste of time, farewell." Shakou said before vanishing back into her shadow as quickly as he came.

"He is just as rude as his master." Kurenai muttered angrily as she got up to her feet and walked back into the house.

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[Time Skip]

"Good Kiba you're getting the hang of water-walking I'm glad that way we can work on some more sparring between you and Shino this time it will be on the water, you never know when you have to do this." Kurenai said as she grew more motivated to teach her two remaining students, all due to a talk between her and Shakou.

Not even a couple of hours ago, the two foxes Shimo and Shakou were watching over them as if the Konoha Shinobi weren't the ones that were hired to protect, it was a bit insulting, but in all honesty one Jounin was not in top form, the other Jounin was having a few issues and the students were a bit at odds with each other or rather Sasuke against Kiba and Shino.

[Flashback]

"This can't go on Kakashi and Zabuza must be looked over by Mizu if we want to get him on their feet and fighting at peak condition. As for that Kurenai woman one of us should talk to her, she is doing no one any good by acting this way, Hinata will grow strong in Master Naruto's hands so she shouldn't act like a worried mother." Shimo whispered to Shakou.

"Agreed I'll talk to her you get Mizu." Shakou said as he walked over Kurenai who was watching Kiba and Shino spar against each other from under a tree while Shimo vanished in a swirl of snowflakes.

"You are being quite pathetic Hinata will be fine under Master Naruto's watch and frankly speaking much better than she was under yours before." Shakou said as everyone stopped to look at the five-tailed fox.

"What did you just say?" Kurenai growled as she stood up to her feet trying to intimidate the fox by use of her superior size.

"You have two students in need of instruction and all you can think about is Hinata who is training her heart out right now to prove to everyone including you that she is strong enough to stand on her own. She wants to make you proud to thank you for sticking by her even if you took the wrong approach while doing so. It is not too late to fix your mistakes, Kurenai don't let the past dictate your present and future." Shakou said as he turned around and walked away, fading into a shadow of a nearby bush.

[End of Flashback]

After that little speech a fire inside Kurenai burned like never before and she walked over to her students and began to actively train them by adding input in their spars before taking them to a lake to teach them water-walking.

Meanwhile Kakashi and Sasuke were guarding Tazuna at the bridge, "This is boring I'd rather be training." Sasuke muttered as he looked up to see something strange happen, a swirl of water appeared before them and a small blue fox with glowing yellow eyes and four tails came out of the tiny whirlpool.

"Hello I am Mizu I am here for you Kakashi." The fox smiled gently though the soft and feminine tenor that spoke with a no-nonsense tone making the two males shiver unconsciously, it remind them of what a strict, yet gentle mother should sound like.

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End of Chapter Seven

A/N: Yeah Naruto did not make much of an appearance in this chapter… as for the foxes well they could be considered as Naruto's Familiars or Shikigami thus giving another dimension to Naruto's powers.

Thanks to everyone one who reviewed, put this in their favorites and/or alerts lists, bye for now!


	8. Consequences!

Chapter Eight: Consequences!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories…

Summary: "I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime." ― Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

"Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences." ― Robert Louis Stevenson

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Kakashi and Sasuke were guarding Tazuna at the bridge, "This is boring I'd rather be training," Sasuke muttered as he looked up to see something strange happen. A swirl of water appeared before them and a small blue fox with glowing yellow eyes and four tails came out of the tiny whirlpool.

"Hello I am Mizu I am here for you Kakashi," The fox smiled gently though the soft and feminine tenor that spoke with a no-nonsense tone making the two males shivered unconsciously. It reminded them of what a strict, yet gentle mother should sound like.

Sasuke rose to his feet looking at the small creature before them. "_Another one of Naruto's foxes, damn how many does he have_?" Sasuke thought, seething in jealousy.

He realized long ago they were summons or so he thought, only strong Shinobi were able to obtain contracts from them.

"_How is it that this civilian shopkeeper has more Shinobi abilities than even I do? How is he so much stronger than me_?" He cursed.

"What do you want with me?" Kakashi asked the female fox who seemed to be smiling at him. It instantly putting him on edge whenever a woman smiles like that it always promises pain, humiliation, or both.

The little fox scampered over to Kakashi before he had a chance to formulate and escape plan. "I have been informed of your less than one hundred percent condition. Even with the rest period you have until the final battle, you will not be in top form therefore I am here to speed up recovery."

"My specialty is water, as you know in some ways water can be seen to have healing properties. Due to my unique circumstances I have healing powers," Mizu explained softly, though you could hear her quite clearly.

Kakashi shook his head in bemusement. "It seems Naruto comes through for us once again. So how are you going to heal me?" Kakashi snorted in good humor, marveling at how much of a surprising person Naruto is.

"Just stand up and be still, it will be quite painless," Mizu said as Kakashi did what she said. It was obviously clear it was an order and was not to be ignored or stalled.

Her eyes shone an ominous golden color as a swirl of water formed beneath Kakashi's feet, "Good now close your eyes and relax," She instructed.

The water smoothly grew around his body incasing him in a column of water that quickly sealed at the top and bottom. A few seconds later Kakashi then found himself floating in a pillar of water, but he was able to breathe somehow.

"This water is special thus you are able to breathe as if you would normally. Do try to remain relaxed so I can focus on my work," Mizu giggled at Kakashi's awestruck face.

It was an expression that matched everyone's face as many of the workers came over once they saw a blue talking fox, now she was apparently healing the Shinobi hired to help them.

"This is truly amazing," Tazuna gasped as the water began to radiate a soft green as Kakashi closed his eyes and fell into a state between awake and asleep.

"_Hmm… Master Naruto was right that Sharingan Eye is a bit of a problem, it drains his Chakra constantly. It must be because of his lack of Uchiha blood even so it is draining a bit too much. Well nothing I cannot fix_…" Mizu thought as her eyes changed from the golden color to a startling fiery red.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What is she doing?" Sasuke wondered aloud. He could see a fair amount of the now green water swirl around the place where the Sharingan is implanted in Kakashi's eye socket.

"_Whoever did this implant did a remarkable job however his Chakra network is not in sync with his Sharingan eye. I shall fix this therefore reducing the drain immensely it would never be as natural as it would be if he was of the Uchiha Clan. I know of this man's connection to Master Naruto."_

"_How he blames himself for many occurrences of the past. I know in his heart he wishes to bridge the gap between Master Naruto and himself now discovering he is indeed alive so I will help him_." Mizu sighed.

"_I not only am able to heal the body, but I can help heal the soul. However there is only one person who can truly heal one's soul completely and it is the possessor of that soul. What I can do is put you on the path to recovery, do not let my faith be misplaced Kakashi Hatake."_

"_If you harm my master I will undo what has been done and my knowledge of the body no matter what species is very vast. There are many ways to kill a person while inflicting the most damage at the same time prolonging the experience_," Mizu smiled mischievously as her eyes returned to their golden color and the water was slowing shrinking meaning the healing process was finishing.

After a few moments the water column broke apart and splattered on the ground, as Kakashi coughed a few times removing a bit of excess water that somehow got into his lungs. "I feel better, more than better… you did something else?" Kakashi asked Mizu who chuckled at his question.

"I have placed my faith in you I know you will do the right thing," Mizu said ambiguously as she vanished in a whirlpool of water. "_I understand Mizu I will not let you down_," Kakashi thought with a smile.

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As time went on, the remainder of the Konoha Shinobi switched between training and guarding the family, all the while Zabuza and Haku were making moves of their own with the help of Naruto who would meet with them as Sakura and Hinata rested from training (torture).

"It is good to see you back on your feet and back in peak condition. I'm sure you thanked Mizu for all her efforts," Naruto smiled at the disgruntled Zabuza, he was a bit wary of foxes now due to a very scary blue fox, he learned never to disobey Mizu ever again.

[Flashback]

"Did a little blue fox just talk to me?" Zabuza asked, wondering if the herbal tea Haku made had some hallucinogens in them.

"She's adorable! You must be Naruto's fox!" Haku squealed girlishly scooping the fox into her arms, a bit abnormal for the normally reserved young woman while hugging Mizu tightly.

Mizu bowed her head respectfully after jumping down from Haku's arms. "Yes I am I'm here to heal Zabuza. Naruto knows you intent to fight whoever Gatou will send to kill you so he wants to make things easier for you. Besides there could be the chance he hired a powerful Shinobi to kill you," Mizu informed them as they agreed to be cautious.

"Now stand up and relax for me it will only be a moment," Mizu said as Haku finally let her go to do her job.

Zabuza then chose to do something quite foolish. "What do you plan to do?" Zabuza asked as he made the mistake of questioning Mizu.

Soon a threatening feeling overcame Zabuza while Haku who always went to her master's defense even took a few steps back away from him.

"Zabuza just do what I say and you will be back in full health in no time, my methods are not to be questioned. It is truly to your benefit that you follow my directions to the letter," Mizu said softly, giving an eye-smile, though you could hear the promise of pain in her voice.

"Yes ma'am!" Zabuza said as he immediately stood up and tried to relax. Soon he was encased in a water healing pillar much like the one Kakashi was in not too long ago.

Once she was done she bid them a good day and suggested (ordered) Zabuza to not overdo it in his training.

[End of Flashback]

"I assume everyone will be there at the bridge tomorrow for our big showdown?" Zabuza said as Naruto gave a rather mysterious smile that did nothing, but worry Zabuza.

Haku who seemed to become good friends with Naruto as they discovered they had many other things in common, merely smiled unaffected by Naruto's behavior.

"Yes Hinata's and Sakura's training has progressed further along than even I imagined. They seem to be very motivated in becoming stronger," Naruto replied.

"Anyway I must be off I have an errand to run and I cannot be late, destiny waits for no one," Naruto chuckled at their confused expression as he turned and walked away. He loved being ambiguous he could see why Master Watanuki-Li did it to him.

"I bring news Master Naruto," A soft male voice spoke directly into Naruto's ear, as a small golden fox with bright red eyes and eight tails appeared on Naruto's shoulder.

Scratching behind one of the golden fox's ear Naruto commented, "Oh you sound a bit excited I do hope it is good news Uindo."

"I managed to track down the item you seek. Gatou does indeed have it in his possession. If you wish to reclaim it that is," Uindo replied.

A cold smile came across Naruto's lips. "Good now be a dear and retrieve the item, I want it to be in my hands before our big show tomorrow. For I doubt Gatou will remain in this world for very long," He chuckled darkly.

"It has been a long time since a contract has been violated, will you directly step in or let the villagers handle it?" Uindo asked.

"Uindo if it comes to it I will step in and take care of things, I do have a contract to keep even if the other party doesn't," Naruto whispered.

Naruto's eyes soften and misted over as Uindo said seriously, "Yes, Masters Watanuki-Li and Doumeki would have been proud of you, Master Naruto."

After speaking Uindo inclined his head and vanished in a swirl of wind leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts.

"I know they would be… never mind all that we have a lot to prepare for and the girls are in the final stages of their training. I still have a few gifts to bestow as well… I'm so busy lately," Naruto sighed as he took a cursory glance around him before evaporating into thin air without a sign of him being there.

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It seems as if the day would never arrive, but the day of the final confrontation had just begun. To make things appear as if nothing have changed Naruto dropped off Sakura and Hinata at the house before leaving without a word.

Everybody was shocked at the changes Naruto had made to the girls, they looked to have matured. Hinata's hair grew a bit longer as it was just shy of reaching her shoulders though she preferred to tie it in a bun, held by a pair of long black senbon.

She got rid of the coat long ago since it impeded on her movements and it was damaged during the brutal training. It was replaced with a sleeveless dark blue kimono top with add-on bell-shaped sleeves that covered her hands.

She wore the same type of pants as before though they were now all black held up by an indigo and lavender obi. On her feet was a pair of dark blue Shinobi sandals that reached to her upper calf, her kunai and shuriken holsters were tied to her left hip and right thigh.

Sakura cut her hair so instead of it being down to her waist it was in the middle of her back tied in a high ponytail held together by a long green ribbon. She got rid of the bright red dress she usually wore and now had a form-fitting dark green mandarin styled shirt with sleeves that went down to her elbows.

She wore black pants similar to the ones Hinata was wearing with a pair of black belts draped on her hips in an x-pattern, her kunai and shuriken holsters on her left hip and right thigh on her feet were a pair of dark green matching Shinobi styled sandals.

"You two look amazing," Kiba said as they both blushed a bit at the compliment.

"But have you gotten any stronger?" Sasuke asked though he could see the muscle tone in their physique now, whatever training they did Naruto definitely worked their bodies.

"You'll just have to see. Naruto said he will meet us on the bridge later for now we are to act like normal," Hinata said, everyone could tell Naruto must have instilled some confidence in her since she had yet to stutter.

"Well let's get going," Kakashi said. "Now remember Tazuna once we get to the bridge just stick by the Genin," He said as he led them all to the bridge.

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"Hello Kakashi I see you got paid a visit from a little blue fox as well," Zabuza said as he and Haku met up with the two Konoha teams.

"You're looking well, but you seem upset don't tell me you argued with Mizu," Kakashi chuckled at seeing the Demon of the Mist bristled up like a cat.

Kurenai inwardly snorted at the two men. "The mercenaries will be here soon so can you both have your little chat at another time," Kurenai said stiffly trying to get them back into focus.

"You really are an Ice Queen, you wear you nickname well," Zabuza muttered as Kurenai glared at the Missing-Nin. "_She's good looking, but her personality needs work_," He thought.

"Well let's get this show on the road," Zabuza sighed as he used his Hidden Mist Jutsu to hide them from outside parties and give them the appearance of a battle.

"Okay we'll have to fight a bit to sell it. They can't see us, but they can still hear us," Zabuza whispered as each person nodded their heads and split off into groups.

Zabuza was facing Kakashi and Kurenai while Haku was facing the Genin, it may seem a bit unfair to those who aren't aware of Haku's bloodline.

"Just stay by us Tazuna," Hinata said softly as the older male nodded his head. "So which one of us will "fight" Haku, we only need to look like we're fight, right?" Kiba asked.

"I'll handle this," Sasuke said as he charged at Haku to test his newly acquired speed. Haku mentally smirked as she remembered something Naruto mentioned to her during one of his visits.

"_If you ever have to fight Sasuke, do us all a favor and teach him the meaning of humility_," Naruto's voice echoed in her mind.

So with a mischievous smile that emulated Naruto's trademark smile, Haku disappeared right before Sasuke's eyes, appeared behind him and delivered a semi-vicious kick to the Uchiha's back sending him hurtling to the ground.

Wincing a bit in sympathy Kiba muttered, "Oh that's got to hurt."

Shino merely nodded his head in agreement though it might have seemed unnecessary to put that much force into the kick, he could admit he was happy to see Sasuke be on the tail end of a beating.

"_Naruto must have told her to fight Sasuke_," Hinata's and Sakura's thoughts mirrored each other as Naruto spoke of Haku often and knew of her gentle nature so that only left the explanation that she was doing this as a favor.

That or she got a taste of Sasuke's arrogance and wanted to take him down a peg, thinking about it for a second it could have been both.

Getting up with only slight difficulty Sasuke turned to face Haku once more who was just standing, waiting for him to make a move.

Gritting his teeth in anger Sasuke took out a kunai and threw it at Haku. She dodged it effortlessly nonetheless the time it took for her to dodge Sasuke managed to bridge the gap between them so he was able to get in close enough to throw another punch.

Much to Sasuke's annoyance she dodged his punch as flawlessly as the kunai he threw as a distraction.

"_Damn it all that training and I still can't keep up!_" Sasuke growled as he jumped back after throwing a succession of punches and kicks all of which were either dodged or batted away with little to no exertion.

"I had enough of this!" Sasuke shouted as he quickly went into the hand seals for his Great Fireball Jutsu. "Sasuke what the hell are you doing?!" Kiba yelled his eyes widen in shock and Shino's form stiffened in alarm.

Hinata and Sakura shared a glance before Sakura sighed, "Idiot." She dissipated from where she stood and appeared behind Sasuke to deliver a hard cross chop in the back of Sasuke's neck he was knocked unconscious.

"_I see Naruto have done a great job at improving Sakura's abilities that had to be at least Chuunin level speed. I wonder what advancements Hinata has made in her own skills,_" Shino observed as his Kikaichū were telling him.

Sighing in relief Kiba smiled at Sakura, she managed to prevent Sasuke from firing his Jutsu.

But after a moment of deliberation the level of power between Sasuke and Haku was great enough that he doubt his Fireball Jutsu would have done anything to the girl.

"He's as rash as ever," Hinata commented she didn't hope that during the time away the Uchiha would have changed, but a bit of improvement over his attitude would have been nice.

Meanwhile Zabuza and Kakashi were having a match of his own as they threw kunai, shuriken, and even random Ninjutsu at each other though powered down a bit to conserve Chakra, but it gave off the effect that an epic battle was taking place.

Kurenai felt a bit useless her Genjutsu was rendered quite ineffective with Zabuza's Hidden Mist Jutsu up as well as the fact he was fighting with his eyes closed, a habit he must have developed to combat in the mist.

She knew better than to take him on directly since Zabuza out ranks her on Taijutsu, strength, speed, and stamina.

Most of her Genjutsu required eye contact something that was nearly impossible to make happened as of now.

She found it quite humbling to see how much stronger the two men were in comparison as they could fight without the use of their eyes only relying on their other senses to locate where the other Shinobi was positioned.

"_When I get back I'll have to ask Anko to help with sensory deprivation training, she's quite good at it_," Kurenai thought.

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As this was going on Gatou sent a pair of mercenaries to Tazuna's home to capture Tsunami and Inari, however upon arriving they were in for a nasty surprise in the form of Shakou.

"What the hell is this? What is a little fox doing here, Zori?" The eye-patch wearing mercenary asked to his bandanna wearing friend.

"Don't know Waraji maybe he's a pet," Zori replied as the fox's eyes flashed ominously it was then they noticed they were sinking into their own shadows that took on more demonic looking forms.

The shadows' eyes glowed with dark red evil intentions as a cruel smile formed on nonexistent lips and with a large horrific scream the men cease to exist as if they were never there.

"Into the Nether Realm you go, where you belong," Shakou hissed as he turned to the door both Tsunami and Inari were hidden behind. "It is safe to come out," He called out as the two came out from the closet.

"Thank you Shakou-san," Tsunami bowed in thanks as Inari did the same, it was shocking to see such a tiny creature take out two fully grown men in a blink of an eye.

"You are most welcome now I shall return to my Master do remain safe," Shakou said as he melted into his own shadow before the shadow faded away.

"Mother, there's something I have to do will you help me?" Inari asked as he looked up to Tsunami with a determined look on his face.

Gasping as she could see Kaiza's image overlapped Inari's, she nodded her head. "Yes I'll help you any way I can," She smiled a teary-eyed smile.

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"I think we did enough to convince them," Zabuza said as Kakashi nodded his head in agreement. They all could sense the mercenaries have already surrounded them.

Quickly banishing the mist Zabuza did his best to look shock making it appear as if he didn't see the betrayal coming. He must have done a great job as Gatou stood before his hired thugs looking all too smug.

"Don't tell me you're surprised Zabuza, you really think I was going to pay you all that money when these men were more than enough to kill a simple bridge builder," Gatou said.

"When I found out you were in the area I decided a little extra income couldn't hurt. So I allowed that fool to get to Konoha to hire his Shinobi so you would kill or at least weaken each other enough for my men to do the rest."

"It was an added bonus that he was able to get another famous Shinobi to come here, now I can collect both your bounties. And I'll have a few new workers for my brothel especially that little bitch that broke my arm I'll make sure to break you in myself," The midget billionaire cackled darkly.

"My my my Gatou you've changed from that little desperate man who had a wish to take expand his father's little shipping company worldwide," Naruto spoke out echoing which did not fail to cause chills to go down people's spines.

There were only few of knew of the circumstance in which Gatou Company grew to be a success, shaking in clear fright Gatou stammered, "W…What do y…you want? I…I fulfilled my c...contract with him ages ago?"

Soft, yet cold chuckling resonated, "Oh that much is true however you had violated certain parameters. In doing so you have to pay the penalty, you do know what that is, don't you?"

Suddenly appearing before Gatou not even two feet away was Naruto dressed in all black looking every much like the Shinigami himself had been summoned.

"Yes… I do k… know, but if you j… just let m…me explain," Gatou stuttered nervously as he backed away slightly.

He had stared down heartless Missing-Nin and criminal lords before no problem but somehow this boy hardly old enough to grow facial hair has gotten him completely spooked.

"You did not think that your actions were being monitored that you had free reign over everything you accomplished. You completely disregarded that fact that you would not have been able to achieve anything if it was not for the help you received."

"As the old saying goes power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely," Naruto sighed as he began to explain the unvoiced question of how Naruto knew Gatou and why the man seemed so afraid of Naruto.

"You were not this big bad crime lord when you got started. You a mere heir to a struggling factory company vendor. Your father left you with a company along with a huge debt. You knew there was a way to mend things, but with bill collectors over your head you felt helpless…"

An icy smirk graced Naruto's lips as if he was mocking Gatou in false pity, "You wished to take your business knowledge and your company to the next level, but that could only be done once the balances were paid in full. So in a drastic move you journeyed to find a peculiar shop that specializes in wishes and so your wish was granted."

"Yes all those insurmountable debts gone right before your eyes. Cash magically appeared in your bank account to cover the losses. But you got greedy, influenced by less than savory people and in doing so became just like them."

"The contract stated that no innocent blood was to be spill for any monetary or personal gain and you have broken your word. So everything you have attained will now be lost," Naruto said with finality in his tone.

"How… I own everything you can't just take it all away just like that!" Gatou shouted as he squeezed the cane in his hand tightly in his white knuckled grip.

Naruto closed his eyes as if he was recalling something. "It is all rather simple there was always a clause that in the event of your death everything you own will go to the kind loaners that gave the capital for your business to show your eternal gratitude. That would be the owner of Zenko that now belongs to me," Naruto explained.

"I never made the contract with you! And I'm not dead yet!" Gatou yelled as he the ruby jewel placed on the top of his cane began to illuminate as nearly everyone gasped in shock, even Sasuke who was awoken moments ago to see Naruto's arrival.

Gatou's eyes widen in recollection, it was this cane that was given to him as the symbol of the contract created between him and the proprietor of Zenko. It seems as if even if the ownership changed hands the contract was still valid.

Suddenly red light spread all around Gatou and he was sucked into the jewel. All that was left was the cane Gatou never seemed to be without.

"Such a shame…" Naruto sighed as he shook his head retrieving the cane. "Hey are you forgetting something?!" A mercenary shouted as they came out of their stupor.

"No, they shall take care of things," Naruto said as he pointed at the end of the bridge to see the town's people had all gathered, weapons in hand ready to defend their home.

A flurry of senbon and kunai took out a large portion of the thugs as Haku, Hinata, and Sakura brandished their weapons. "It looks like we're not as defenseless as you once thought," Haku smirked at the once confident criminals as they ran for the boats they took to arrive on the bridge.

"That seemed rather anticlimactic," Zabuza sighed sheathing his large sword. "Not everything ends in a violent showdown," Kakashi quipped.

"I know, but I wanted to at least cut that greedy pig to pieces," Zabuza sighed in disappointment. "By the way what was his end of the bargain, you freed him of his money crisis, but what did he give you?" He asked Naruto.

"Why his soul of course," Naruto replied with a chilling smile as everyone's faces paled. "Y…You're kidding right?" Kakashi chucked nervously.

"No I'm not. I needed something of equivalent value to him, as stated in his contract he said he would sell his soul to gain unmeasured monetary wealth. So once he was able to acquire the currency to pay Zenko back he could reclaim his soul."

"However as long as he did not infringe the contract proviso he would remain the richest **living** man in the world," Naruto replied stonily.

Several eyes widen in recognition, "So when he breached the stipulation…" Sakura whispered. "Yes I could take everything away from him… I do mean everything," Naruto said enigmatically.

"Did I ever tell you that you are one scary kid?" Zabuza said monotonously as his statement broke up the portentous atmosphere as Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"So what do we do now?" Kurenai asked as she stared at Zabuza and Haku, even though they allied with them on this mission, they were still Missing-Nin.

Placing a hand on Kurenai's shoulder Kakashi sighed, "I think we all had enough drama for one day."

"I second that, besides we need to celebrate!" Tazuna said as the townspeople cheered as the realization that Gatou and his thugs were gone and they were free at last.

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End of Chapter Eight

Author's Note: Not much is known about Gatou so I made a few things up, I had no idea how or when he gained his vast wealth so I used that lack of knowledge to my advantage. I will probably go into more detail about Gatou's and Zenko's connection later to tie up loose ends.

Thanks to all who read and reviewed my story. It's nice to know you all enjoy this. I will be tying up the Wave Country Arc finally.

The next chapter will be most likely about what happens in between the end of the Wave Country arc the beginning of the Chuunin Exams so those upset I didn't showcase Hinata's and Sakura's improvement will get to see it then.

My goodness this was a lengthy chapter. I would have wrapped things up here, but it was going on long enough. Anyway thanks again and see you next chapter!


	9. Partings and Plans

Chapter Nine: Partings and Plans.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from my stories…

Summary: "You can devise all the plans in the world, but if you don't welcome spontaneity; you will just disappoint yourself." ― Abigail Biddinger

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"Oh damn I'm never drinking so much again!" Zabuza groaned nursing his aching head. He slowly sat up and looked around the unfamiliar bedroom, but being a Missing-Nin he was use to awakening in strange places.

What bothered him was the fact he wasn't alone in this bedroom, immediately to his right was the smooth slender shoulder of a dark-haired woman.

Carefully he leaned over the sleeping woman and soon recognized who she was; he lied back down on the bed in disbelief. "Damn old man is going to kill me," Zabuza sighed, scrubbing his face with his hands.

"Go back to sleep Buza it's still early," Tsunami moaned turning over to lie on his muscular chest. Shaking his head in bemusement he wrapped an arm around her and went back to sleep.

"I'll figure things out later after a few more hours of sleep," Zabuza murmured, closing his eyes and relaxed.

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"Good morning everyone, how did you sleep?" Naruto asked cheerfully serving breakfast to everyone, each in various states most of them hung-over.

"Shh…. I still have a headache," Tazuna moaned using his arms to cover his head in an attempt to block out the sunlight coming from the windows.

"Yeah by the way do you have any pain killers around?" Kakashi inquired. He actually had his Hitai-ate covering both his eye thus he was unable to read his infamous Icha Icha Paradise book. Tazuna merely shrugged his shoulders trying to move as little as possible.

Shino looked normal while sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea, but he was trying to burrow deeper into his jacket, which gave away that he too was in agony over a hangover.

Kiba didn't even both to hide his hangover pulling his hood up even further over his head and nursed his drink, groaning every so often.

However Kurenai, Hinata, Sakura, and Haku were fine talking amongst themselves, giggling ever so often though they made sure to do so quietly to not disturb the suffering men.

Naruto chuckled to himself going back into the kitchen to get more food. "Master Naruto I have found the item you have sent me to retrieve," Uindo whispered appearing before Naruto in gas-like state.

"Thank you Uindo," Naruto smiled when a small scroll was dropped into his hand. Unrolling it Naruto looked at the contents and grinned happily.

"I finally have it thanks again," Naruto breathed, rolling the scroll back up and tucked it away in his pouch. "Oh and by the way do deliver this to the Old Man. There are some things I want him to know and some things I do not want others to know," Naruto handed Uindo a small scroll.

"You are most welcome Master and I shall deliver this to Sarutobi-sama at once," Uindo vanished. Humming to himself Naruto came out of the kitchen just in time to see Inari come down the stairs.

"Morning everyone… where's Mom? And Zabuza? And the broody guy?" Inari questioned sitting down at the table and was given a plate of food by Naruto.

"They'll be down in a moment," Naruto replied when Zabuza and Tsunami came down the stairs, everyone staring at them curiously.

Lifting his Hitai-ate up over his eye Kakashi smirked, "So I see you two are up a bit late, what kept you?"

Earning a glare from the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza then proceeded to grin in a feral manner, "Is something wrong Kakashi you looked to be in pain." He noticed Kakashi's blood shot eye, the other eye was covered for obvious reasons.

"Don't tell me last night's celebration put you down. If I knew alcohol is what would have done the trick I would have challenged you to a drinking contest ages ago." Zabuza laughed.

"Now Buza don't act like that the only reason you're up and about is because I gave you aspirin. Come along Naruto has made us a wonderful breakfast it would be a shame if it got cold," Tsunami sighed softly grasping Zabuza by the arm and they sat down at the table.

Nearly everybody was looking at the "couple" in disbelief. "What the hell? Tsunami?!" Tazuna shouted and immediately regretted it before thanking Naruto who wordlessly passed pain relievers to the hung-over men.

"Zabuza decided to stay here and help rebuild the village," Tsunami giggled. "Yeah this place needs protection so pigs like Gatou don't crop up again," Zabuza added.

"What about your dream?" Haku asked looking at her Master in alarm, all he worked for these past years was all for the sake of completing his ambition of taking over Kirigakure.

Clearing his throat Zabuza muttered, "Haku I know I have never said this before, but you are more than just a tool that is why I wish to free you from your servitude."

"I know you found a true friend in Naruto and I don't want to separate you two. Unlike me you're not a Missing-Nin since you never truly worked for Kirigakure so you can go to Konoha without any trouble." He murmured.

Haku sniffled whilst tears of joy ran down her cheeks, "Thank you Zabuza." Naruto smiled at the young girl and offered, "You are more than welcomed to stay with me. I could use a bit of help at my shop."

"What's going on?" Sasuke questioned stumbling slightly down the stairs, his face looking a bit pale, well more so than usual.

"Way to ruin the mood," Kiba grumbled before giving Sasuke a summary of what happened. "How is he going to stay here, he's a wanted man, a Missing-Nin?" Sasuke enquired.

"Oh with the rebellion going on they will be far too concern with that than Zabuza besides if he's willing to make a deal with me I'll make that pesky problem disappear," Naruto said mysteriously.

Eyes narrowing in suspicion, "I won't have to give up my soul, will I?" Zabuza glared. "I see you're never going to let me live it down… no just some of your hair and blood, yours also Haku," Naruto replied.

Nodding their heads in agreement Zabuza and Haku were led upstairs by Naruto. Sasuke prepared to follow, but a firm hand from Kakashi sat him back down.

"Why did you stop me?" Sasuke demanded. "Whatever Naruto is going to do have nothing to do with us," Kakashi replied.

"Kakashi is correct we don't have the right to spy on Naruto. If he wanted us to know what he's planning he would have included us," Kurenai agreed though she could admit she was curious also.

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"So just some hair and blood?" Zabuza asked. Naruto nodded his head in confirmation, sighing Zabuza pulled out a kunai with Haku doing the same.

"Before I continue you must give me something in return and I know just the thing," Naruto's eyes straying towards Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō.

Sighing Zabuza nodded his head handing over his sword, he knew he would have to give up the sword if he wanted to remain hidden; it was a rather recognizable weapon.

But to his shock Naruto had no trouble holding the weapon and to both his and Haku's utter amazement Naruto stuffed the massive weapon into his dimensional pouch.

"What the hell?" Zabuza shouted. "Oh this is just one of my dimensional pouches capable of storing items of any size and amount," Naruto explained in a blasé manner.

"Now where is it?" Naruto murmured reaching into his seemingly bottomless pouch he pulled out two blue ceramic bowls and sat them on the floor. "Place the hair in first then the blood," He instructed.

Doing what they were told Zabuza and Haku watched Naruto go into his pouch once more and pulled out a vial with a silvery blue powder inside of it.

"What is that?" Zabuza asked. Haku just looked in awe; they could both feel the power radiating from inside the small vial.

"Condensed chakra made into powder," Naruto replied simply pouring the powder into the bowls that caused purple smoke to dissipate into the air.

Soon the bowls started to quiver before falling over and purple liquid was spilling onto the floor continuously despite there was no way the amount flowing out could have come out such small bowls.

The amethyst colored liquid soon formed into the shape of a pair of bodies, the color began to change into more flesh tones and finally they took on the forms of Zabuza and Haku. "Clones?" Haku blushed since the clones were quite naked.

"Not just any clones, these are real except they aren't exactly living. I'm no god so creating something from nothing is impossible."

"Life is about equivalent exchange, there is a balance. The amount of blood and hair was able to create these replicas, to make them animated I would need far more. This will be enough to fool Kirigakure into thinking you were killed," Naruto explained.

"We'll need to disguise ourselves so no one recognize us… this could work," Zabuza said thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"Yes you give them your clothes, we'll give a report that we killed you and send Kirigakure the clones well after giving them a few fatal looking injuries so you can live peacefully," Naruto smiled.

Haku kissed Naruto on the cheek, "Thank you Naruto." Blinking in shock Naruto blushed, this wasn't the first kiss he'd ever received, but he couldn't say it wasn't enjoyable.

"You're welcome Haku," Naruto beamed. "Now go on I still have to finish things," He said. Zabuza and Haku went back down stairs to explain the plan to everyone.

"Well now these turned out quite beautifully," Naruto smirked reaching into the bowls, pulling out a pair of pendants. One was in the shape of a sword and the other the shape of a snowflake.

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The next few days passed went by quickly when the bridge was completed with Gatou and his hired thugs gone the bridge was built in record time since there was no shortage of workers, the only thing left was deciding on a name.

It was finally the day the Konoha Shinobi and their new companion Haku were going to return to Konoha, each person in the village came to wish them a safe journey.

"Are you sure?" Tazuna asked after Naruto gave him the deed to Gatou Shipping Company. "Yes I have no need for it, this trip has given me something far more valuable," Naruto replied ambiguously.

"I see," Tazuna decided on the name of the bridge: The Great Uzumaki Bridge. No one objected since he got rid of Gatou and given them the means to get back their country back on their feet.

"Stay safe Haku and Naruto you better take care of her," Zabuza warned the blond. He took to wearing civilian clothing and cut his hair shorter and dyed it a dark shade of brown, small changes to his appearance, but enough that no one would question the slight resemblance.

"Of course Buza, she's in good hands," Naruto smirked using the little nickname Tsunami gave the man earning a poisonous glare.

"Haku, try not to let the brat get you into trouble," Zabuza sighed. "I won't Zabuza and you take care of things here. You now have a family to look after," She smiled at both the former Demon of the Mist and Tsunami blushing brightly at her words.

"And don't worry Inari we'll visit again someday. Besides with Zabuza here you'll grow stronger, it was Kaiza's wish to see you grow into a strong man one day," Naruto winked Inari gasping in shock.

Discreetly Naruto looked back at the villagers to see the spirit of the hero of Wave Country grinning at the blond shopkeeper vanishing while whispering the words, "Thank you."

After a few heartfelt goodbyes they left Wave Country back towards Konohagakure. It was a few miles into the trip back that Sasuke spoke.

"By the way you never went into detail about you and Gatou," Sasuke said, every person turned to Naruto to see his reaction.

"Oh I had no idea I said I was going to go into detail," Naruto spoke airily though his face was impassive.

Glaring a bit at the dismissal, "I think you should tell us, especially with the way you killed Gatou and this talk about souls." Sasuke scowled. Haku tensed as if she was going to say something.

Placing a placating hand on her shoulder Naruto sighed knowing the Uchiha was not going to let it go. Naruto closed his eyes and explained, "Gatou formed a contract with my Master the previous owner of Zenko."

"However any and all contracts formed by previous proprietors must be continued through the current one. Gatou violated an old agreement so now being the possessor of Zenko I must deal punishment." He added.

"I see so your Master is the one that taught you the skills you have?" Sasuke asked determinedly.

"He was one of my teachers, yes. My Master taught me some of my skills, but like any good student it is up to you to continue and improve upon what you learned. Furthermore you must take the steps to learn things on your own," Naruto replied.

Nodding their heads Kakashi and Kurenai agreed, their sensei taught them a lot of the skills they now have in their arsenal. But when they grew older and stronger, the skills they gained later in their career were due to self-instruction.

"Then will you introduce me to him, I wish for him to train me," Sasuke requested trying to be polite. Seeing this Naruto could only be polite in turn even though he didn't really want to.

"Unfortunately my Master isn't available to teach anyone, he's no longer here," Naruto said softly and quite dejected causing everyone to grow quiet.

They never heard the blond sound sad before. Haku wordlessly took Naruto's hand in her own and squeezed it gently to convey her sympathies.

Bowing her head, "I'm sorry Naruto it must be hard to have someone you care about no longer with you." Hinata whispered.

Smiling a bit in thanks Naruto responded, "Thank you I know my Master is very happy where he is so I try not to think about the fact he's gone get me down."

Sasuke wanted to ask more questions like about that cane Gatou once had. He didn't see Naruto holding it, but Naruto could have easily sealed it away, Naruto was skilled enough to do something like that.

"If you're wondering about the cane…" Naruto started to say causing Sasuke to look shock that he was so easy to read. "… then forget about it, items like these are dangerous. Whenever a contract is formed an item is created out of that agreement to symbolize it."

"So what was created from the contract with you, Zabuza and Haku?" Kakashi inquired.

"That is between the contractors," Naruto glanced at Sakura smiling at him, her lilac pendant glowed softly and Haku beamed, she now wore a snowflake pendant around her neck.

After that answer no one seemed to want to ask any more questions. The trip back from Wave Country to Konoha went much faster since they didn't have an untrained civilian to slow them down.

It took hardly any time at all for them to reach the massive gates of Konoha. "Well I believe we should hurry to meet with Old Man Sarutobi so we can get your citizenship Haku," Naruto chuckled at seeing Kurenai's eye the twitched at nickname he gave the Hokage.

"Yes and we need to get the Mission Briefing over with," Kakashi added after checking in with the "Eternal Chuunin" Kotestu and Izumo.

"Hey Kakashi is that who I think it is?" Izumo whispered to the Copy-Nin, the Chuunin looking at Naruto with spellbound expressions. "Yes we'll talk later," Kakashi replied before heading to the Hokage Tower.

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"We've returned successful Hokage-sama," Kakashi stated upon entering the Hokage's Office. "Yes I can see that now report what occurred in Wave Country and who is this young lady?" Sarutobi asked.

"Allow me to introduce you to Haku. She was once the apprentice of Zabuza Momochi the man who earned the moniker of Demon of the Mist," Naruto gestured to Haku bowing politely.

His gray eyes narrowed intensely at Haku, making her unconsciously fidgeted under his stare. It was understandable she was in the presence of the man known as the Shinobi no Kami, the third man to earn that title.

"I see I believe you have never been listed as a Shinobi and you wish to gain citizenship to Konoha," Sarutobi chuckled; a grandfatherly smile graced his face.

"Yes, Naruto-kun offered me a place at his shop," Haku replied. "Very well if Naruto has vouched for you I know you only have good intentions. I'll put in the paperwork immediately. You two may go," The Hokage said.

"Thanks Old Man, see you later. Come on Haku I have a lot to show you," Naruto said grabbing Haku's hand and pulled her out the door.

When the door closed the easygoing look on the Hokage's face vanished. "So Kakashi do tell me what you were thinking. You allowed your Genin to make the decision of not returning to the village once the mission clearly went over your team's abilities to handle?" Sarutobi questioned.

Sweat formed on the silver-haired man's brow, he knew he was in trouble the moment he walked in. "With all due respect we succeeded in our mission," Sasuke spoke and he was immediately blasted with Killing Intent that froze everyone in their places.

"Did I ask you to speak Genin?" The Hokage said coldly. Sasuke could only shake his head negatively afraid to speak. "Then remain silent until I permit you to talk," He added, his anger-filled eyes locked onto Kakashi.

"And for the record you did not completely succeed in my book. You lost a teammate something that could have been avoided had you not let false bravados and foolish prides get in the way."

"I know sometimes you cannot turn away an assignment however those missions are not something Genin level Shinobi have to deal with. We assign less hazardous missions to Genin for a reason, as the younger generation you are our village's future."

"We can't afford sending you out on dangerous missions until you grow strong enough to handle tasks much like the one you found yourselves in Wave Country. What you should have done was return to the village so we could assign the proper team to perform the mission," Sarutobi explained.

"Tazuna could not afford to pay for a higher ranked team that is why he lied to the Mission Assignment and Registry Office. The wealthy shipping entrepreneur Gatou was draining their country dry so a Genin team was all they could afford," Kakashi commented.

"If he had explained his case he could have paid the fee at a later date, now before I dismiss the Genin please note that all events on this mission shall be an A-ranked secret. Do not disclose any information about what happened in Wave Country," Sarutobi commanded before dismissing the Genin.

The Genin filed out the office silently leaving only Kakashi and Kurenai in the room. "Naruto had sent a message ahead explaining everything that took place."

"I do not need to tell you that the powers Naruto displayed, Haku's abilities or the fact Zabuza is alive must not be discussed to anyone," Sarutobi explained, the Jounin nodded their heads in agreement.

Pulling out his pipe to smoke and calm his nerves, Sarutobi locked eyes with Kurenai. "I will not punish you or Sasuke for your behavior since Naruto expressed no grudge."

"However if either of you physically threaten him again there will be consequences do you understand?" He scowled at the woman who nodded her head nervously.

"Kakashi do explain to Sasuke about the ramifications of his actions. Warn him not to do so again next time he might do so to a client who would not be as forgiving as Naruto and force punishment," Sarutobi added.

"Be sure to advise the Genin when writing their Mission Report to leave certain events out and to submit them by the end of the week. You are dismissed," The Hokage said signaling Kakashi and Kurenai to leave his office.

A few moments later of peace was all the Hokage had before Danzo, Koharu, and Homura showed up at his office. "_I was afraid of this Danzo has one too many spies within my own ranks. Someone must have told him of Naruto being alive_," Sarutobi thought.

"Hello come to assist with the paperwork, it seems to have grown during the Mission Briefing. I swear I take my eyes off it and it grows like a weed," Sarutobi said jovially.

His little act wasn't appreciated as they merely stared at the Hokage stone-faced. "Sarutobi why haven't you informed us that Naruto Uzumaki is alive?" Koharu asked, her eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"Oh I wasn't aware it was my job to do so?" Sarutobi raised a brow. The subtle hint that he wasn't pleased with her behavior was silently noted bowing slightly in apology.

"We apologized for coming unannounced, but this is important. For years we have been left vulnerable due to the fact every other major Hidden Village possessed a Jinchuuriki besides us, it left a void in power. As the strongest of the major Hidden Villages we had Kyuubi to serve as a deterrent to keep the other countries from attacking," Homura explained.

Tapping his cane lightly to gain their attention Danzo spoke, "He is correct. It took great effort to keep Uzumaki's death a secret from reaching the other villages. Now we discovered there was no need, the boy was hiding when he should have been training to grow stronger to protect Konoha."

"It would be naïve and foolish to say the boy should have a choice whether or not to become stronger, even if he doesn't become a Shinobi with enemies both inside and outside the village, he must have the strength to protect himself."

"However you are wrong to think that his only purpose in life is to protect Konoha. He is already preforming that goal by just remaining alive. No one else can hold Kyuubi in their bodies and live, it is in his blood."

"Naruto has no desire to become a Shinobi and we cannot force the boy. Can you blame him for not wanting to protect this village?" Sarutobi asked they didn't even have it in them to speak such a lie.

Sighing he took out his pipe to smoke Sarutobi murmured, "He expressed no ill will towards Konoha and that's all I can ask for. We should have done what our ancestors have done to protect the village and that is relying on ourselves not the Bijuu. In a way having such beasts have made us all lazy and complacent, can you honestly say we are as strong as the Shodaime or the Nidaime?"

Shaking their heads they knew the answer to that question was a resounding, _**no**_. "Be as that may the boy still needs to be trained," Danzo said refusing to give up.

"I shall see to that in any case if Naruto could fool us for so long he can't be completely unskilled," Sarutobi said he wished to keep Naruto's abilities a secret for as long as he could, he'd owed it to Naruto after all.

"Very well as long as he is properly trained then I have no objections," Koharu stated. "Agreed with his lineage it would a shame if he did not grow strong," Homura added.

Narrowing his eye in resentment, Danzo knew he wasn't going to get Naruto under his wing any time soon especially with his supposed "senile" rival completely aware of his activities and being the boy's surrogate grandfather.

He knew if tried to go after Naruto he and his entire Root would be executed without mercy. The poignant part about it was that no one would object. All Sarutobi had to say that they were traitors and the citizens would believe like the sheep they were.

"All I ask is that he is strong enough to deal with the other countries' Jinchuuriki should they invade. We can't delude ourselves into thinking that normal Shinobi is enough to handle such powerhouses," Danzo finally spoke.

"Agreed, now then I've been away from my paperwork long enough," Sarutobi wordlessly dismissed them.

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"Well that worked out about as well as I expected," Koharu murmured walking out of the Hokage Tower. "Yes Sarutobi has always been stubborn concerning that boy," Homura chuckled humorlessly.

"I might not be able to train the boy personally, but there is no harm in making sure those who are training Uzumaki are up to snuff," Danzo muttered. The trio never saw Uindo in his gas-form watching their every move. "_There is more than one way to get what I want_," Danzo thought.

"It seems Master Naruto was right to have me watch the meeting after he was dismissed. However should these fools try to harm my Master and those he hold dear they will come to fear why I am nicknamed Chissoku no Kurushimi (Asphyxiation Agony)," Uindo murmured before disappearing completely.

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"So you're telling me that you run not only Zenko, but this shop too?" Haku asked while she and Naruto stood in front of a rather simple looking shop entitled Kurama in bright red letters.

"Yes my Zenko shop is my wish shop however I told my Master that it would be more beneficial to have a second shop. You know something a bit more traditional so I could still interact with others more frequently and make money. You may not be aware, but Zenko is located in a realm separated from this one," Naruto explained entering the shop.

Looking around Haku could see the place was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. In typical Naruto fashion even though the outward appearance was small and simplistic, the inside was copious and intricate.

The walls were lined with large black lacquered shelves filled to the brim with various items, mostly different types of tea from what she could see.

There were a few low matching black lacquered tables where customers could come in and sit, all the furniture looked both beautiful and comfortable; the seats were actually large black velvety soft pillows. A few pieces of artwork and colorful plants lined the walls and hung from the ceiling.

In the back of the store were a counter, register, and a door to the storage room. A male who looked to be in his twenties stood behind the kiosk. He was talking to a customer, a girl about a year older with twin buns on her dark brown hair wearing similar clothing to the male.

He had long red hair that flowed off his shoulders and down his back, he wore Mandarin styled clothing: a long black tunic with red clasps, black pants, and black shoes. His deep emerald eyes sparkled in both intelligence and mischief, his gaze locked onto them once they entered the shop.

"Here is your order, Tenten. Cypress Oil, right?" He smiled causing the girl to smile in return. "Yes thanks Kurama-dono, my sensei has been working me over extra hard. You know I prefer the natural stuff to the synthetic pain medication," Tenten remarked.

"Gai is just stressed because rumor has it that the Chuunin Exams will be taking place in Konoha this time around and he made you wait at least a year to participate. He wants you all to be prepared," Kurama stated.

"True, but not everyone can handle his crazy routines. Oh Naruto-dono, I didn't know you were back from your trip," Tenten bowed. Haku blinked in confusion at the honorific she gave Naruto.

"No need to bow Tenten I thought I've told you this before. Oh and this is Haku, she will be working for me just like Kurama. So you'll have some help like you've been complaining about, eh Kurama-nii," Naruto chuckled.

Grinning happily Kurama spoke, "Good then maybe I can finally get that vacation I've always wanted. Hello my dear I'm Kurama, Naruto's ani and co-owner of Kurama, and yes the shop is named after me. My sweet little otouto named the shop Kurama when he was just seven years old at the time we had this shop built."

Smiling at hearing that Naruto was not alone in the world Haku bowed slightly to Kurama, "It's good to know Naruto-kun has someone looking out for him."

"Yes I've always been there for Naruto-otouto and will continue to do so as long as I am able. Anyway I'm sure you've been brought here to be shown the ropes so shall we get started?" Kurama asked.

"Of course let's get started, you don't mind, do you Naruto-kun?" Haku asked. "Not at all in fact I'm happy to see you're so eager to learn," Naruto snickered.

"Then it's settled, come along my dear," Kurama came from behind the counter and led Haku around the shop explaining things.

"Naruto since you're not busy can you come with me?" Tenten asked. "Sure, I'll be back soon!" Naruto called out to Kurama and Haku, walking Tenten out of the shop and onto the street.

Looking a bit apprehensive Tenten reluctantly spoke, "I know you specialize in wishes and you helped me so much with my own wish… I was wondering if you could help someone else I know."

Growing serious Naruto murmured, "That depends on his wish and what he is willing to give up for it to come true." Shaking her head in bemusement Tenten chuckled, "I would ask how do you know that my friend was a guy, but this is you we're talking about."

"Well he should be at the training ground now," Tenten said leading Naruto away.

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End of Chapter Nine…

Author's Note: Ah just who is Tenten talking about? Well take a guess… it'll be fun to see who you all think it is.

I don't really have much to say for once. So I'll just end things with: Thanks for reading my story and be sure to leave a review if you wish to do so!


	10. Author's Note

Update:

For those who are wondering when I am planning to update my stories. Don't worry I do indeed plan to. However there has been so financial issues I had to take care of and there was a death in my family. He was very special to me so I needed some time to get myself to together. Thanks for understanding.


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